My ending to Deus Ex Machina
by Mac Mc.K
Summary: This is my ending of the never finished machinima series "Deus Ex Machina"
1. Episode 9 Doomsday Part 2 of 2 Act 5

**To all my subscribers on youtube: **This is the definitive version of my ending to Deus Ex Machina. As I stated in the Vlog, I truly didn't want it to turn out this way. I really wish I could have made a worthy machinima ending to the series but as I stated before, I have no more motivation to continue making it and there's really no more support for the project either. That and it wasn't fun working on it either. I realized after a while that I was forcing myself continue making it. However, I did enjoy planning out the story and writing the script and I'd rather make something that I enjoy working on rather than force myself to make something and have it turn out to be a piece of junk.

**To all the newcomers: **This is my ending to a machinima series called Deus Ex Machina, created back in 2007, by a person who went by the name DigitalPh33r, more commonly known for his "Arby n the Chief" series on youtube. He now goes by the name Jon CJG and never finished Deus Ex Machina despite there being one episode left. Now, my own ending was supposed to be a machinima but as stated above, I lost all motivation to make my ending in machinima form but enjoyed planning and writing the story. So if you're a fan of the series, hopefully you'll find this to be a worthy ending.

**Deus Ex Machina: Episode 9 – "Doomsday (Part 2 of 2)" Act 5**

"Where's that goddamn rocket launcher private?" shouted the UNSC Marine Corporal.

"Almost ready sir!" replied the Private

"Well ready it faster! We haven't got all fucking day!" the corporal shouted back as he pulled the trigger of his MA5C Assault Rifle, sending a volley of rounds at the Wraith that was slowly turning to face the three marines hidden behind a small stack of rocks.

They were in a bad situation, every human was: The Covenant had begun their invasion of Salvation City, the last human civilization on earth. The UNSC had lost contact with The Pillar of Autumn II 12 hours ago when they dispatched the bulk of their forces to deal with the slowly approaching threat of a Deus Ex Machina robot clone that was supposedly carrying a strain of the Ebola virus in the form of a bomb, set to detonate once it had reached deep enough into the city. The marines lost a good chunk of their forces before the real Deus Ex Machina had arrived to help, leading the clone away from the city. The marines later found the clone lying in a heap just outside the city perimeter shortly after the first sign of the Covenant were seen with the real Deus Ex Machina nowhere to be found. Their numbers stretched thin, a defense perimeter was hastily constructed around all the key points of the city as they waited for the first wave of Covenant troops to attack.

Small recon teams had been sent in to try and conduct a few guerilla attacks on the first covenant patrols in hopes of slowing them down as well as gaining whatever information they could on enemy positions, strength, etc. In the case of this squad, they had tried flanking the wraith from the rear in hopes of putting a rocket in its back, which would have brought it down

in one hit. Unfortunately, the Sangheili in the gunner seat had spotted them when they tried to cross the river and immediately began firing on them with the Wraith itself turning to face them. Making matters worse is that the private handling the rocket launcher failed to take in the time it took to ready the weapon for combat versus a Wraith turning a mere 90 degrees.

"Ok, ready!" shouted the private, just as the other private had fired a 3-round burst from his BR-55 Battle Rifle, one of the rounds hitting the Wraith gunner in the eye before he could activate his shields, killing him instantly.

"Well fire the fucking thing already!" shouted the corporal. Just as the private crouched into the firing stance, the Wraith discharged it's weapon, sending a glob of brilliant white/purple light hurling toward the three marines a mere 30 feet away.

"SON OF A BI-" was the last thing the corporal shouted before all three marines disappeared in a bright explosion. Only a large black spot and a small remaining amount of rock remained where they stood mere seconds ago.

Far away from where the squad had made their final stand, at the outskirts of Salvation City, in a tall structure meant to act as a sign of the city limits, now serving as a temporary forward command center, Captain Roy Griffiths stood in the basement of the structure, surrounded by a cluttered mess of weaponry and equipment, staring outside the structure at the sun, a Battle rifle in one hand, waiting for an update from any of his recon teams. He had sent them in an hour ago and had heard nothing, aside of his main Lieutenant, Ryan Fitzgerald telling him they had lost contact with all but one remaining scout team. That alone shook him to the core. If all but one of their recon teams were dead within an hour, that alone spoke volumes about their enemy's strength. His best scout Jacob was in there too. Griffiths wondered if even he could survive.

However, just when he had assumed the worst, the radio on the table behind him crackled to life, Fitzgerald's voice coming through.

"Captain," said a voice. Griffiths turned to face the radio. "I'm sorry to bother you but we need you topside."

"What happened?" replied Griffiths.

"We've lost contact with the last of the scout teams you sent in and our sniper spotted the first of the Covenant on the horizon."

Griffiths let out a heavy sigh, part frustration and part sorrow. "Ok…be right up…" he said.

Lieutenant Ryan Fitzgerald stared out at the landscape in front of him, behind the wall of the large beacon structure taking in the events unfolding before him: the prefab barricades receiving their final fortifications, the men taking up their positions, the first signs of the covenant invasion on the horizon, his heart and mind racing a mile a minute. In a way though, it was a beautiful scene, worthy of a picture indeed. If humanity ever lived through this, if he ever lived through this, it would be one hell of a story to tell his children should he ever have any some day.

"Are you sure you haven't heard from them at all?" asked a voice behind him, making him nearly jump out of his armor.

"Yes sir," he managed to say turning around to face him. "…and give the current circumstances…it's best to believe they're all dead."

"Indeed…it does warrant such a belief…what about the robot? Have you figured that one out yet?" asked Griffiths.

"It was a dud sir," replied Fitzgerald.

"A dud?" Griffiths almost yelled.

Fitzgerald nodded. "My best guess is that it was designed to lure us down here to weaken the defenses in outer space and…it worked."

A thousand thoughts and theories immediately raced through Griffiths mind as to who and/or why that person would have done this but they would all have to wait. He had bigger problems on hand.

"Well…that settles it then. Prepare to-"

"Captain! Are you there?" a voice interrupted over the radio in Griffiths armor. It was Jacob.

"Jacob!" said the Captain. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, for the moment. I don't have much time though."

"Go ahead, what have you got?" said Griffiths.

"Ok, no doubt you've all seen the first of the Covenant by now, correct?"

"Yeah," replied Griffiths.

"Captain, I don't believe we can win this fight. Their vehicle strength isn't too powerful to the point where we can't mount a defense but their infantry…I've never seen so goddamn many of them before…as far as I can tell, we're outnumbered three to one…and there's more than enough reason to believe this is only the first wave…"

"Fantastic…" Griffiths muttered just loud enough for only himself to hear. "Can you fall back?"

"Negative sir," Jacob replied "I don't even think I'll be able to hide at the rate they're closing in."

"Conceal yourself as best you can and do not engage the enemy unless spotted…we'll get you out of there," said Griffiths, trying to give hope to a man who might as well have been dead at that point.

"Orders sir?" asked Fitzgerald as Griffiths clicked off his com.

"Get everyone ready. I want this base ready for a fight!" he ordered.

"Right away!" replied Fitzgerald as he ran off to make the announcement.

Griffiths walked the wall of the beacon structure, looking out the fast approaching covenant forces as he listened to Fitzgerald over his com. He saw every man in the sector readying their weapons and take up positions. He heard Warthog's rev up and speed by the beacon, Hornet gunships take off, and could hear the tremble of the massive alien military closing in on them, ready to sacrifice every soldier they had to see the last human drop dead and their blood on their hands. Unlike Fitzgerald however, only one thought was crossing his mind at that point.

"_God knows we've got the mother of them all coming down on us…_"

**6 Hours Earlier**

Jon sat on a perch of land overlooking the doorway the decapitators had recently found for him, allowing him to exit the same hell-hole he had nearly died in twice now. It was only blind, sheer luck that the pheromone had been there else he would have undoubtedly been dead by now. So here he was, sitting up against a rock, exhausted, trying to recap what had happened in recent hours.

He slowly began to remember…a mysterious figure coming up to him in the middle of the street, telling him to check on Michael, returning to the hideout to find it emptied out save for a table with a laptop on it that said "Play me," Michael's death at the hands of Patrick and…

"_Mike_…" he thought. His thoughts stopped dead in their track. If only he had been there, if he hadn't run away like a coward, Mike might still be alive…but no, he had to run away from everything rather than face his demons like a man. How did he even get here? What was he thinking even trying to clean up the city? Become this great vigilante and a hero to the people, who was he trying to fool? He suddenly thought suicide once more…why not? His pistol was in hand…still a few rounds left…

His suicide contemplation was cut short once again as he heard a familiar sound off in the distance that grew louder with each passing second. He stood up and looked around for a few moments until his eyes caught what he was looking for: A small purple colored bulbous shaped aircraft speeding through the sky. It passed over the arena once, flying low enough to spot him standing out in the open. His heart stopped. Everything that happened up to this moment came rushing forward: The attack on the city from the robot clone, the long, brutal fight, finding out Patrick was the true mastermind behind what would be humanity's ultimate destruction.

"No…no…NO!" he shouted. "Damnit! I was so caught up in the fight that I completely forgot…"

Several huge explosions suddenly rocked the arena, Jon turning to face the closest one to the right of him. What he saw come through the smoke only confirmed his biggest fear yet: Six tall, wide, lizard-like brown-grayish skinned Sangheili, one in red armor, the other five in blue armor. Jon froze, unsure of what to do. Quickly looking around, he could see at least a dozen other Sangheili coming into the arena from all sides.

Then, as soon as the red-armored Sangheili looked him directly in the eye, his battle instinct kicked in. He readied his assault rifle, checked to make sure it was loaded and fired a swath of rounds at the six Sangheili grouped together before jumping down from the ledge and retreating back into the decapitator's lair. There was no way he could fight all those Sangheili. His retreat plan was cut short not too far into the lair though, as he quickly spun to the right at the first intersection he came across to see one of the Sangheili charge out a deliver a hard punch right to Jon's face. The armor absorbed the impact but Jon was caught off-balance, sending him flying into the center pillar not eight feet away, losing his assault rifle in the process. By this point, both impacts combined with the exhaustion from previous battles caused Jon to practically be seeing stars. He nearly lost consciousness until he saw the alien ready his energy sword and assume its attack posture. He just barely managed to move to the side as the sword plunged into the wall mere inches from his head.

Not giving the alien any time to react, he grabbed a fistful of dust in his hand and, seeing as how the alien hadn't activated its shields yet, threw the dust right into its eyes, causing it to let go of its sword automatically deactivating the weapon. Jon, back on his feet by now, picked up the energy sword and re-activated it. Charging at the Sangheili, he plunged the sword right through the alien's neck. It struggled, clinging to life even trying to grab the sword. Not cutting it any slack, Jon arched the sword backward, effectively slicing the alien's head clean in two.

His victory was short lived as he heard a menacing growl to his right. He looked only to see three more Sangheili standing there thoroughly mad at their comrade's death. All three looked primed and ready to hack Jon into pieces. Jon's response was to throw the sword at the group in an attempt to buy some time for him to get away. The attempt was mostly in vain as all three aliens were able to safely dodge it. He continued running despite this until he saw he was quickly advancing upon a blocked off entrance into the lair. With time quickly running out and the three Sangheili close in pursuit, he activated his armor's strength ability which could potentially enable to him lift up 1 metric ton. He had never tried it before so he was unsure at the moment of what it could do. His doubt however shared the same fate as the blockage, it too having its structural integrity being obliterated as the super charged armor collided with it.

Quickly gaining his feet, he turned to the right where a passage to the surface lay and saw four other Sangheili quickly dropping down from the ledge above. He turned the other way and ran as fast as he can blind-firing his pistol behind him until it ran out of ammo. Just as he reached the other passage to the surface, he stopped. There he was: The leader of the little hunting pack staring right at him. It said nothing…merely stared at him as the seven other covenant caught up with him.

By now, Jon was boxed in. There was no way he could escape. There may have been a small chance he could have made it by trying to run past the major domo but snipers taking place further away gave him no opportunity beyond that. It seemed as though Jon's luck had finally run dry until he caught something to the left…could it be…yes! It was! He saw a cylinder shape carving in the wall, glowing a purple hue, small sparkles traveling through the carving, ascending to the top until they passed out of sight: A gravity lift. Then, turning his attention back to the major, he saw the alien brandish its energy sword and charge, the others not moving, their role clearly to make sure Jon stayed put. Having only a split second to act, he reached for the lower back section of his armor, found what he was looking for and tossed it at the Sangheili. Out came a brilliant flash of white light, temporarily blinding everything looking in Jon's direction. When it cleared, Jon was nowhere to be found.

The gravity lift took him up to a structure built into the side of a cliff that while the layout suggested it was man-made, the design of the walls, floor and ceiling suggested anything but. Quickly looking to make sure no other covenant were present as well as reloading his pistol, he headed in the direction where the sound of a waterfall was coming from. After going down a ramp, through a hall and up a stairway, he came out to a wide platform overlooking the ocean with a half-circle shaped waterfall just below. Looking down, he saw that it was quite a drop and going that route meant certain death.

"Ok…can't go that way so…ah fuck," he said as he turned around. The covenant had caught up to him. The major was leading six other minor domo as they all took up positions around the platform with the major walking to within 10 feet of him, cutting off any chance of escape. He thought they would all immediately come at him, but instead they all seemed to be chattering amongst each-other and from the tone's of their voices, it sounded as though they were debating over who would kill him.

After several long minutes had passed, they had all stopped their chatter and the major, his sword still active in his right hand, shifted into a combat stance. His opponent made clear, Jon detached the M7 SMG off his upper left leg, made sure his pistol was ready and aimed both guns at the alien.

"Whatever…cmon already. I don't have all goddamn day," he said as he prepared to fight his last battle. This time there was no escaping, no more buying time, no chance to prevail. All that was left to do was give them hell before he went…

* * *

"Karl! Jon's stopped moving," called the pilot of the old, nearly rusted out hornet.

"Let's see," replied Karl as he came back into the cockpit. "How long has he been like that?"

"About a minute…his vitals are still active but very strained…I think they cornered him."

"Shit, you're right. Ok let me think for a minute…oh, I know. How many missiles do we have again?" asked Karl.

"Four," replied the pilot.

"Ready all of them and arm the guns. I'll set up a firing solution as soon as we have a clear visual. You just take out the remaining covenant after."

"Got it."

"Good, now take us up! Jon hasn't got much time left."

* * *

The major looked at Jon and his face twisted into what would be a grin. He readied himself into a combat stance and prepared to charge.

"_Shit, what am I gonna do?_" panicked Jon mentally. "_Ok…best bet may be to side-step and push him off the platform…but what about the other six? Nothin I can about them…to hell with it, I'm fucked either way…guess I'll just take big red one with me…Sorry Mike…but it looks like I won't avenging you anytime soon…"_

The major was just about to chargewhen he noticed a massive object rising quickly from below the platform. It didn't take long to realize that the aircraft that was now in full view was a human one.

* * *

"Karl, I hope you have that firing solution!" the pilot called out.

"Just a second…ok, got it! Fire! Kill those sonsabitches!"

* * *

"Get down!" a voice suddenly called out from behind, leading Jon to hit the deck within half a second.

The major started to back up when four missiles came out from the human aircraft, impacting on areas all around the major. He put his arms up in front of his face to protect himself until he realized he wasn't hit. Looking around, he saw that where his men once stood, it was replaced by a large black burn spot or charred fragments with his comrades nowhere in sight. He looked right at the human vehicle to see it was staring at him. His first reaction was to drop his sword and reach for his rifle, but the aircraft opened fire before he could. By the time he brought his rifle up to bear, the rounds depleted his shields and started tearing through his armor and unprotected sections of his body. The searing pain forced him to drop his gun and try to put his arms up in front of his head. He finally fell over after about five seconds of continued fire.

Jon got to his feet again and looked behind him only to see what looked like a hornet designed for cargo with its back tuned to him and the loading ramp extended. A man stood at the beginning of the ramp.

"Get on!" he shouted. Jon wasted no time in jumping on board as the ramp closed and the back door sealed, the hornet taking off and heading to wherever its destination was. Little did he know that the major domo had survived and was limping toward the platform watching the transport fly away. If anyone could see the look on its face, it was more than clear that the alien wasn't done fighting yet.

* * *

Inside the cargo area, Jon was panting heavily, ready to pass out. He would have too had it not been for a familiar voice behind him. The voice of someone who had saved his life for the second time now.

"Glad to see things are looking up for you," joked the voice sarcastically. Jon slowly turned around to see a very familiar person behind him.

"You," he nearly gasped as he stood up.

"You remember me, don't you?" asked the man.

"How could I forget…if it wasn't for you, I'd have been dead a long time ago," replied Jon.

Karl Doyle had saved Jon's life once before. After his first failed attempt to rescue Michael from Derek Owen and being shot in the head, it was only thanks to the efforts of what could be considered the Salvation City resistance that he was still alive. Now here he was, having saved his life yet again.

"Yeah…more or less," he chuckled. "Regardless, it's a damn good thing we got you out of there. Trust me, there were many more covenant pouring into that place than you saw," he said, his voice getting more serious.

"Of all the things that happened today, I can't believe I completely forgot about the covenant invasion," replied Jon.

"Don't worry about that right now. We can deal with them later. Right now we need to get you patched up."

"Wait a second…how do you know about the invasion too?" asked Jon now curios.

"I'll explain later. In case you haven't noticed, you're in some seriously bad shape there. Now come on up front before you pass out," said Karl as he walked toward the front of the hornet.

"Yeah…sure…sounds like a good idea," said Jon as he started to follow Karl.

Just then, he suddenly felt tired. His vision blurred and he was losing his balance. He felt cold, unable to breathe. His walking slowed to a crawl. He tried blinking to clear his vision but as soon as he shut his eyes, they didn't open again. Karl was about to head into the cockpit when he heard a huge thud. He whipped around to see Jon lying face down on the cargo bay floor.

"Jon!" he screamed as he rushed toward him. Turning him over, he finally saw the extent of his injuries. Major lacerations, a few gaping holes blown in him, scorch marks, bullets lodged in him. It made the first time around look like a paper cut. Checking to make sure he was still alive (which he was) he knew Jon didn't have much time left, if it wasn't too late already. Reacting on instinct, there was only one thing he could do:

"Jack! Trauma kit NOW!"

Author's note: NOT the end. We're just gettin started here…


	2. Episode 10 Take it Back! Part I

**Deus Ex Machina: Episode 10 – "Take it Back!" Part 1**

It seemed as though only a moment had passed from when Jon shut his eyes. He was after all only going to blink to try and clear his vision. He was feeling run-down and very cold at that moment and his vision was starting to blur. So he blinked but when he re-opened his eyes, he was in a completely different place yet a very familiar one too. A quick examination of his surroundings suggested he was lying down and that there was no one else in the room. He sat up, only to be overcome by searing pain but he fought against it. He then heard the door open, and turned to face the direction of the noise only to see Karl walk through.

"Well I guess you could say it's been a while since you were, hasn't it?" he said as he closed the door behind him.

Yeah…I guess," replied Jon.

"Let me say one thing before we begin…you are one lucky son of a bitch," said Karl as he pulled up a chair. "You were expected to bleed out, before the end of the day…but somehow…the biofoam patched you up. You'll be just fine so long as you don't see any combat which…might be difficult today."

Jon perked up. "What? How long was I out for?"

"About six hours," replied Karl. "But a lot happened in that short timeframe…you see-"

"Karl, we're deploying in five," interrupted Jack; the pilot of the hornet.

"Ok thanks," replied Karl.

That got Jon's attention. "Karl…how far have the covenant come along?" he asked, now fully aware of what was going on.

"There's no easy way to say it so I'll just say it…they over-ran the city defense perimeter and almost the entire outer residential sector. While their infantry are mopping up what's left, the aerial units have begun bombarding the rest of the city and the large, empty spaces where people may be hiding. Making matters worse is that there's an armored convoy carrying a huge bomb pushing right into the business district onward to the mall where the rest of the UNSC has set up shop. If they nail the mall, it's over.

Jon looked at him with absolute horror. "…and we're doing…what about this exactly?" he asked perplexed.

"Relax Jon, all of us here are gathering whatever strength we have to go and help defend the city…don't know how much good we can do but we have to do something."

"Karl, come on!" yelled Jack.

"Ok, be right there! Listen…we'll talk later when I get back," said Karl returning to Jon.

"No! Take me with you!" said Jon trying to get up.

"Hey, easy!" replied Karl trying to push him back down.

"Take me with you!" shouted Jon.

"Are you nuts? Have you taken a look at yourself lately?"

"I don't care, I want to fight!" asserted Jon.

"Jon, listen to me. You're in no condition to fight. You won't be able to do anything. You'll only end up dying needlessly!"

"But I have to go!" Jon retorted.

"Why? Why die like this?" Karl asked.

"Because I know who's behind all this; the invasion, the robot attack, everything. I'll know he'll be there," said Jon.

Karl paused, giving Jon an uncertain look.

"Look…" began Jon. "I've done virtually no good in recent weeks. I started off by accidently killed a kid because I was so trigger happy, went on a rampage to boot causing even more destruction…I…I let my best and only friend left in the world die…" At this point, Jon was fighting back tears. Just the thought of those moments were enough to rip him apart on the inside.

"I know humanity really has no chance of winning this war but even at that I don't wanna die hiding like a coward. I've done enough hiding lately and I'm sick of it. Besides, you and I both know the covenant won't stop until they butcher every last one of us. Even if I can't do much, I at least want to die knowing I helped defend our existence. I actually want to believe I made something of a difference, even if I really didn't. If nothing else…just allow me to watch humanity's final stand. It won't matter where we are if we lose, we'll all die anyway. You know it, I know it, we all know it."

Karl contemplated what Jon just told him. It was true. There would be no more resisting if they lost this battle. Even if he left Jon here, the covenant would find this place and destroy it brick by brick. He took a deep breath and started directly into Jon's eyes.

"Alright…I'll allow you to come with us," he said. Before Jon could reply, Karl stopped him. "One condition: When we get there, you find a safe place and you stay there. You don't fight unless it's absolutely necessary…I've lost so many people important to me over the years through pretty much everything; drugs, crime, you name it…and whether you believe it or not you're a hero to everyone here. I don't wanna lose our last beacon of hope to just because he feels completely inadequate and wants to play hero," he said sternly.

"Wait here…gotta get some morphine…" said Karl as he walked out of the room.

As the door shut behind him, there were a million thoughts racing through his mind but he was only able to utter two simple words.

"Thank you"

**Salvation City, 30 minutes later**

In the past six hours, thing had gone from bad to worse at an alarming rate. Falling back into the outer sector of the city after a long grueling fight where the few privileged had set up shop, the covenant wasted no time in laying waste to the area. Attempts to conduct guerilla counter-strikes to slow them down or hold the inner city perimeter failed with numerous civilians paying the price.

That's not to say the covenant hadn't taken a few losses of their own. The battle of the defense perimeter was no easy victory for the covenant. A third of the banshees had been shot down and almost all the covenant scouting parties had met the most unlucky of fates at the hands of M41 guns from the remaining Warthogs. Since they had been coming through rocky, jagged terrain, getting vehicles through was almost a chore and the ghost's fast movement was almost a hindrance, leading to the destruction of much of the alien's vehicle power. Despite this, the Sangheili were simply stronger, faster and far more resilient than the marines due to their biology. Sporting a double set of pectoral muscles and being raised as a warrior since birth, one of them was easily worth three marines and being outnumbered from the start didn't help either. The Sangheili did take losses but their numbers were measly compared to human losses.

Overall, the battle didn't go well for the humans. The UNSC had lost at least 60% of their remaining men and were only able to hold the defense perimeter for a measly two hours before being forced to fall back into the downtown part of the city itself. Prefab fortifications were hastily built inside the city's mall and with that, Captain Roy Griffiths and his surviving crew of a few hundred marines prepared to make their last stand against the alien menace. They had built roadblocks, set up AA guns, dug trenches, fortified enclosed buildings, placed whatever snipers they had left in critical locations but they all knew it wouldn't be enough. It was only a matter of time before the covenant destroyed the mall and whatever chain of command was left.

The battle began mainly by air: Banshees flew around harassing entrenched marines, going one on one with the AA guns and hitting any high-rise buildings…one of them being the mayor's office. Before long, many of the high-rise building lay in ruins and numerous scorch marks, dead bodies and brass shells littered the landscape. To make matters worse, a single armored convoy was moving right into the heart of the city headed directly for the mall consisting of two wraiths in the front escorted by ghosts and anti-air wraiths in the back to ward off any hornets. That and they made practical ground combat vehicles too due to their rapid fire fuel-rod guns. In the middle however was the biggest threat of them all: A shadow carrying what looked like a bomb big enough to turn the entire city into a smoldering crater. That explained why there wasn't a mass charge of infantry or a horde of Locust walkers.

Still, something was odd about this. This whole set-up wasn't like the covenant. Normally they charged in en masse, butchering everyone by hand and sending in scores of walkers to rip apart all the buildings before the massive explosion. They savored every kill, took their time clearing out a city. Blowing everything up was the last step, not the first. These thoughts would have to wait though as Griffiths studied the screen. The main concern for now was clearing out the shadow's bodyguards and taking out the crew without setting off the bomb and given how few men he had left, the captain was down to only one option. If this didn't work, it was game over.

"Captain," came the voice of Fitzgerald over the com channel."We're in position sir, just say the word."

"Copy that Fitzgerald. Wait for my command," he replied.

Two snipers; one in a medium-rise apartment building and the other concealed in some foliage were in position to take out the driver and the gunner of the shadow. In addition to those two, the transport section carried four red-armored Sangheili, which were no doubt meant to ready the bomb and act as additional bodyguards. The bomb was being carried on the underbelly just below the transport seating. In order for this to work, the two snipers positioned on either side of the shadow had only one shot to take out the gunner and driver simultaneously. Then they would still have to act nearly inhumanly fast to take out all four passengers before they could get at the bomb and possibly set it off. There was no room for error. If even one of them missed a single shot, humanity's struggle for survival would be over.

Both snipers watched as the convoy came into view. First the ghosts came through, followed by the wraiths and finally, the shadow itself. Both marines locked on to their respective targets and waited for the signal. It was now or never.

"Fire!" ordered Griffiths.

Just as he gave the order, an explosion shook the apartment building, knocking the marine off balance just as he fired his gun. As bad karma would have it, the round instead found a new target: The head of the sniper opposite of him. Immediately, all four of the crew as well as the rest of the convoy scrambled to action. The now dead sniper's body in the foliage immediately fell out of cover, leading the majority of the covenant to turn their attention to the apartment building.

The Marine scrambled to his feet and what he saw was not the covenant forces waiting to turn him into a pile of vapor and ash, but the fellow comrade he had just accidently killed. Ironically, the only thought that passed through his mind was that he felt responsible for his friend's death and that he didn't deserve to live as the covenant made that a reality. Griffiths could only stare at the screen as he saw what had just taken place. That was it, his last ditch effort to save humanity. It was over, humanity was finished and the part that hurt the most was the knowledge that he had failed them all. He saw the crew scrambling toward the bomb, presumably to activate it and knew it was over.

"Captain! Orders?" screamed Fitzgerald. Griffiths could only stare and remain static.

Two banshees then swooped over-head, most likely a routine "Everything okay?" check. Then, just as the banshees passed over the convoy, one of them suddenly rammed into the other. Off came the cockpit ceiling like it was nothing and a red-armored Sangheili jumped onto the fellow banshee. He primed his sword and plunged it right into the purple metal. The banshee spun out of control and crash-landed two streets over.

"Captain…are we seeing things?" asked Fitzgerald.

"I…I don't think so…" replied Griffiths.

"Wait…turn your attention back to camera 2!" said Fitzgerald.

What he saw again shocked him beyond belief. From the screens point of view, the Sangheili crewman on the front right-side of the bomb lay dead with the crewman originally in the back right-side now gripping the gunner by the neck, his sword raised. It let out an uncanny screech before be-heading the gunner. The two crewmen on the left side looked at the other one with utter shock but before they could react, the Sangheili flipped over the gun onto their side before brandishing another energy sword. Two swords in hand, he rammed them right through the other crewmen's heads just as they spun around. Both dropped dead to the ground, killed instantly. The rogue alien then let out another screech and plunged both swords into the bomb itself. He quickly put both swords away and dislodged and item from the underbelly before jumping away as the bomb malfunctioned and let off a powerful crack as it exploded with tremendous force. This sudden, unexpected betrayal didn't give the shadow driver any chance in hell either.

While it didn't take the whole city with it, the bomb left a 10 meter wide, 2 meter deep crater in its wake. Again, even more puzzling as to how little damage the bomb did…until Fitzgerald came through on the com with almost nothing but static.

"Fitz, I can barely hear you, say again?" A long pause. He came back on the com again after about a minute, this time clearer.

"Is that better?" he asked.

"Yeah," replied Griffiths.

"Captain, there's a lot of electronic interference in the immediate area where the bomb detonated. I'm guessing it was a-"

"Jammer," interrupted Griffiths. "They were going to jam all our electronics so we couldn't coordinate effectively."

"Eh…not so much…judging by the explosion, it was more of an EMP bomb which detonated pre-maturely so only a small sector was wiped out. What we're experiencing right now are its after effects but they should dissipate quickly," said Fitzgerald.

"Yeah…but it makes no sense. Their technology is EMP shielded. They could detonate in the city with their forces here and it wouldn't have any effect on them either way," replied Griffiths.

The explosion reduced the shadow to ash and managed to take the bulk of the convoy with it. The two wraiths in front were unfortunately too close to the explosion and their back halves were caught in it, taking the rest of their vehicle bodies with them are their power cores self-destructed. The two escort ghost were flipped over with the driver's struggling to get out from underneath. The AA wraiths on the other hand were still operable. While the gunner's had been killed from the flying shrapnel, the driver's had been protected and were primed and ready to get some payback.

Just as they were about to make a move though, they heard another uncanny screech as one of the rogue Sangheili jumped over the hill where one of the marine snipers were. Wielding a gravity hammer, it brought the hammer down hard on the cockpit. The hammer struck with such force that the entire front end of the wraith literally split apart, purple blood running like a faucet out from the wreckage seconds later. Just as the other wraith turned to fire a shot, the second rogue alien latched onto it from behind as it plunged it's sword into the spinning disk in the back before jumping off. Its power core ruptured, the vehicle burst into a ball of brilliant white light a second later. The rogue aliens were then quick to finish off the ghost drivers who had only started to climb out of ghost's wreckage.

"Captain…what the hell are we supposed to do? Engage? Call out to them? What?" asked Fitzgerald regarding the rogue Sangheili.

The captain could do nothing but stare, speechless at what had just happened to the point that he hadn't even heard Fitzgerald's voice until he heard him make an order to engage the rogue aliens. His brain working again, he was just about to countermand the order when an unknown radio transmission broke through on all the com channels.

"Soldiers of the UNSC, hear this and take heed. This is Karl Doyle, leader of the former Salvation City resistance. Hold your positions against the covenant, help is on the way."

"Captain, we've got four unidentified human aircraft incoming," said one of the snipers over the com."

"Let them through, do not engage," he ordered. As he gave the order, four heavily modified hornets suddenly appeared on the horizon. Two swooped down onto different sections of the battlefield while the other two began firing missiles onto the edges of the city where platoons of Sangheili, previously unseen by the USNC forces, were waiting to charge en-masse. As the other two hornets touched the ground, resistance troops poured out of them and began engaging the Sangheili that had started the charge. Unfortunately, the ones that had started the charge were survivors of the platoons that had recently been bombarded by the hornets and in their current condition, were no match for the resistance fighters who were well-armed and ruthless. As the battle was underway, one final smaller hornet touched down near the mall behind UNSC protection.

"Thanks Jack. Keep the engines running just in case," said Karl as he, Jon and three bodyguards walked out. Two marines walked up to greet them.

"Christ I thought we were done for. Thank you whoever you are," said one of the marines.

"Thank me later, the battle isn't over yet…and I need to speak to your captain right away," replied Karl.

As the two marines began to usher him toward the command center, he turned to the rest of the group. "You two come with me. Jon, stay here," he said. Having remembered the agreement between the two, Jon said nothing and walked back into the hornet, too afraid to even show his face.

"Whoever you guys are, you sure are brave," said Griffiths as Karl walked into the command center.

"Yeah? Well what can we say? Neighbors wouldn't keep it down so we thought we'd see what was up. Anyways, don't worry about those two rogue Sangheili, they're friendly so far as we can tell."

"Yeah and you figure that how again?" asked Griffiths.

"Ever hear of a man named Leonard Phillips?" asked Karl

"Yeah, he used to be a scientist who worked for us. Left about five years ago and we never heard from him again," replied Griffiths.

"Well since you're wondering, he started working for a drug-lord named Derek Owen. Luck for him, he had a few covenant test subjects to work and those two are the result. I had worked with him for a period of time but when I saw what Owen was planning, I left and formed the resistance. Lucky for me, I had the recipe for the pheromone that controls them. So needless to say: They're under our control."

"Guess we got real lucky then," said Griffiths.

"I'd say so. If it wasn't for them we wouldn't be of much help," replied Karl.

"Captain," came Fitzgerald. "There's another wave on the edge of the city. Much bigger than last time. Orders?"

Griffiths turned to Karl. "Any chance you can whip another hail of those missiles?"

"Afraid not, those were the only ones we had," replied Karl.

"Great…what about your little alien friends?" asked Griffiths.

"We still have a chance but we're in for a rough ride," said Karl. He then clicked on his com. "All of my guys, fall back and find some decent cover, we got another wave on the way. Hornets, get to safety, we can afford to lose any of you."

Back at the battle, the resistance members had just finished off the first wave with only two KIA's. As the second wave appeared on the horizon, they fell back into what few building were still standing on the outer edge of the business district, no time to fall back any further. As the second wave approached and the humans/decapitators moved into position, they suddenly stopped.

Everyone looked out at the scene bracing for any new tricks the covenant might try as the advancing covenant suddenly stopped as if literally frozen in their tracks. Then they all mysteriously turned around and looked to the sky as though they were being spoken to by a god. They began to walk in the other direction, away from the city. Within minutes they were out of sight.

"Fitzgerald…assessment," ordered Griffiths.

"Sir…they're all heading back toward the ship…infantry, vehicles, even aircraft. It's a full-scale withdrawal."

Griffiths turned toward Karl who merely shrugged.

"Orders captain?" asked Fitzgerald.

Griffiths paused for a minute trying to take in what just happened, unsure of whether or not it was a trick or if they actually were really retreating. The covenant never retreated, they made sure they killed and destroyed everything human before they left a battlefield leading him to believe that they were now planning to wipe them out from orbit but even that made no sense. They only took out a city from orbit when they had killed everything in it themselves. Orbital destruction was the last step, not something they resorted to in the middle of a fight. Still, he wasn't about to let the time they'd been given go to waste.

"Keep a recon team on the edges of the city. We've been given time so let's use it but we are still on high alert nonetheless. All personnel who are not on the recon team, fall back and regroup…god knows we need it."

_**1 hour later…**_

The surviving humans had spent the past hour doing whatever they could to prepare for the inevitable second wave of covenant. They gathered their wounded, rounded up ammunition, vehicles, etc, fortified the strongest standing structures, set up traps, defenses and did whatever they could to entrench themselves as far as possible into the still-standing parts of the city. Meanwhile, Doyle rounded up all of his men to discuss their next move when he was summoned by Griffiths.

"I think I speak on behalf of nearly all that's left of mankind when I say 'Thank you for your help.' Now…who the hell are _you_?" he said as Doyle walked off the main hornet.

"The time for sugar-coated words have passed, so I'll be blunt captain. We were the former salvation city 'Resistance' if you wanted to call it that, rebelling against the crime/drug syndicate led by a man named Derek Owen whom you refused to do anything about. Now I understand that you were dealing with fighting off an alien menace trying to destroy us all but a nice little police academy wouldn't have hurt," said Doyle.

"Fair enough," replied Griffiths. "Derek Owen? I didn't even know that bastard was still alive. I thought he died of insanity…shows you how well supervision is on our part…anyways, Doyle was it, maybe you can explain the day I'm having here, between the awkward tactics the covenant used, and their sudden full-scale retreat considering you guys and the rogue split-lips seem to be best buds," he said, referring to the Decapitators who were now mingling by the band of resistance members.

"Well there is an explanation of the latter three. Long story short: Owen hired a man named Leonard Phillips to do some freaky experiments on covenant crash-land survivors and the 'Decapitators' as they're called were the result, but he was killed recently by them because he didn't have the pheromone needed to control them prepared. Luckily we did have a few connections still, yes we used to be friends, and he gave me the recipe fearing that he couldn't complete it in time. So with those guys still locked in the compound, we had plenty of time to create the pheromone. As for the former two, I'm equally stumped," explained Doyle.

Griffiths was just about to reply when he spotted Jon walking out from behind one of the resistance's hornets. Jon stopped, noticing him but couldn't even bear to look him in the eye.

"You!" Griffiths almost yelled as he practically stormed toward Jon, making him cringe. He was cut off on his tirade about two steps in as Doyle stood between the two.

"Captain…respectfully we can deal with him later. We have far more pressing matters to deal with right now and I think going after him can wait," he said firmly.

Griffiths looked at Doyle hard for a minute but reluctantly backed off, knowing Doyle was right but still kept his eyes on Jon. "Continue…" he said after about a minute.

"Now just as I was about to bring him up, he was in our care for a time a ways back when he still held the status of hero. While he was in our care, we placed a distress signal in him that would active should his life signs ever get dangerously low. When we retrieved him, he passed out due to blood loss but kept rambling on about them. Sure enough, when we went back with the pheromone, we found them standing over a pile of covenant scouting parties. As long as we have this, they're completely harmless and will obey every order without question and we should use that to the fullest advantage if you ask me," finished Karl.

"Well that care of that I suppose…now the next I wanted to talk to you about was deciding what to do next but we should head into the command center. We can discuss matters in a much more secluded environment there," replied Griffiths.

Inside the command center, Griffiths, Fitzgerald and Doyle discussed their next move, all divided on what direction to go in. Griffiths had informed Doyle on everything that had happened before he had arrived to help, Doyle having already known of the Deus Ex Machina robot attack. Doyle had suggested attacking the covenant but Griffiths was for holding the city for as long as they could while Fitzgerald proposed sending out a scout team to determine the covenant's overall strength. Needless to say, the meeting wasn't going very well.

"Maybe you don't understand captain, we have nothing to defend. Hell I don't even think the Pillar of Autumn II exists anymore," said Doyle.

"Yeah? Ok then, you tell me where the covenant are gathered," shot back Griffiths.

"Captain, that's why I suggest we send out a scout party and-"

"Negative lieutenant," interrupted Griffiths over Fitzgerald. "I'm not wasting any more men. Have you forgotten what happened back _there_?"

"No sir, I'm just saying-"

"Then save it! We're not wasting any more good men on useless Easter egg hunts. If Doyle and his men wanna go, that's fine but I'm not," snapped Griffiths

"So we just sit here and wait for the covenant to try and cream us again?" asked Doyle.

"Got any better ideas?" replied Griffiths. Doyle gave no response.

Griffiths sighed. "If only we knew where Jacob was…"

"Jacob?" asked Doyle

"My best scout. Lost contact with him shortly before the first attack. Last we knew of him, he was holding up deep in enemy controlled territory…"

"Think he's still alive," asked Doyle.

"I don't know…I'd like to think he is but I don't think anyone could survive that deep in-"

"Captain!" shouted specialist Verginson as the door flew open.

"You better have a damn good reason for interrupting us," growled Griffiths.

"Its Jacob sir! He's on the com channel right now!"

Griffiths wasted no time in practically sprinting to the communications tower that miraculously survived the attack, Doyle and Fitzgerald barely able to keep up. Once inside, relief flooded into him as he heard Jacob's voice.

"Captain,"

"Jacob! Goddamn is it good to hear your voice," said Griffiths.

"I don't have much time captain. They'll find me any second," replied Jacob.

"Ok, go ahead. What have you found?"

"The covenant have taken over the Pillar of Autumn II. There are no covenant ships in the planet's atmosphere so I'm guessing there's a transporter inside the ship. That must be how they're getting all their troops and supplies to the surface…and it looks relatively weak in terms of defenses on the outside at least…I know it may seem like a long shot, but maybe…just maybe…oh fuck! They found me!" With that, the radio went dead.

"Jacob…Jacob! Fuck!" screamed Griffiths as he slammed his fist into the desk.

"Griffiths," began Karl. "I know exactly what he was about to say…we have to attack the Pillar of Autumn."

"I already told you I'm not doing that!"

"But it's the only chance we have of surviving," Doyle shot back. "We'll all die if we stay here!"

"I agree with Karl," said Jon. All four turned around to see a completely different Jon standing there, no longer afraid of showing his face but a look of determination, a look of confidence.

"You're both insane," said Griffiths.

"Captain listen to reason. We know where they are and we have an estimate of how strong they are. As impossible as it seems, we actually have a shot at winning this but we need to act now. It's like Karl said, we either take the shot we've been given, or we sit here and die. Or are you truly able to do absolutely nothing and go to your grave without regrets knowing you could have prevented the annihilation of our race?" spoke Jon with a newfound strength and conviction he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Well said," said Doyle.

"What can I say? I'm tired of running and I bet you all are too. Sooner or later, we have no choice but to face our demons. What matters is how we choose to face them and I for one plan to take em head on," replied Jon.

Griffiths turned to his men. "Fitzgerald? V-Verginson?" he said nervously.

"Sorry sir…but we both agree with those two," said Verginson.

A look of utter horror crossed the captain's face. "Jesus Christ…I'm surrounded!" he shouted. Finally, realizing he was beaten, he let out a heavy sigh.

"Alright…you win…better go tell the troops," he said as he began to walk toward the door. Suddenly, he stopped.

"Two conditions: Karl, take as many as you need and head back to your little hideout. Grab anything and everything that you think we may be able to use. Jon, come with me…I need to talk to you alone." Just as they went to walk out the door, Verginson stopped them.

"Umm…captain, I just remembered the other thing I needed to tell you."

"What is it?"

"That Deus Ex Machina robot…it was a dud…there was no bomb on it…and then it suddenly reactivated and its now functioning as if it's one of us," he said.

"What?" replied Griffiths.

"Meaning, its taking orders from us and everything," said Verginson.

"Patrick…" said Jon. Griffiths turned toward him.

"Yeah…now I definitely need to talk to you…if the robot tries anything, destroy it. Fitzgerald, you're in charge until I get back. Let the troops know of everything that's happened. C'mon Jon…"

On the outer platform of the tower overlooking the barren wasteland that lay outside Salvation City, the two men stood at opposite ends staring each-other down. Griffiths was the first to break the silence.

"So…you've been causing quite the ruckus over the past few weeks…let me just say you are one lucky mother fucker that the mayor was killed in the first attack and we're in a so incredibly desperate situation because if not, you would have been shot dead in the middle of town square by now," said Griffiths with a clam yet enraged tone. Jon said nothing but didn't look away from Griffiths.

"So the first thing you can do if you want even a little leniency when all this is over is to start explaining, quite literally, everything from your point of view and if its convincing enough, I just may believe it."

So Jon told him everything, ranging from when he first started out leading through the Derek Owen Saga, and everything that followed after that up until this point, including the debacle with Patrick and how he was behind both the robot clone and the reason as to why the covenant were able to land on the earth in the first place. Griffiths took in a few moments to comprehend and process everything he had just learned, the gears turning in his mind, trying to come up with a way, an explanation, a solution. Finally after about five minutes, he spoke.

"If what you said is even remotely true…that does change things a bit…there just may be a way I can save you _but _you must be willing to do anything…even if that means sacrificing yourself in the process," said Griffiths.

"…Go on…" replied Jon.

"Find Jacob…or at least what became of him. I know there was one last piece of critical information that he never got to tell us and even if he may not be able to tell us in person, I know he kept his recorder running as he made that broadcast and _if _it's still intact, we can still get our hands on it. Now…should all this come into fruition and it actually does help us win the war…I will clear your name."

"How do you plan to do that?" asked Jon.

"Think about it Jon. If I survive this encounter, which will the final battle mind you, I'll come out as a war hero. People will no doubt want me to be the new mayor of the city and I'll be in a perfect position to re-write everything. You'll come out a hero as well. I don't know all the fine details right now but I'll figure it out if and/or when the time comes and I'll keep you safe and hidden from the public until then. That much I can promise you but _only _if you accept my offer. If not, then there's nothing I can do for you. The choice is yours…" finished Griffiths as he held out his hand.

There was no doubt in Jon's mind as to what his answer would be. He had caused far too much harm in recent weeks unto everyone. This was his first and only chance to redeem himself and he wasn't about to let it slip, no matter what the risk of him dying was.

"I accept," he said as he shook Griffith's hand.

**End Episode 10…**

Authors note: I know I went far too deep into talking and not nearly enough action but don't you worry. This was the story-based episode. The next chapters will feature much more action although there is still a good chunk of story to be told and if you thought Griffith's offer was a kicker, wait until you see what the next chapter holds. Stay tuned, it WILL get better, I promise you that.


	3. Episode 11 Take it Back! Part II

**Deus Ex Machina: Episode 11 – "Take it Back!" Part 2**

Preparation for what would be humanity's final fight against the covenant was complete. Karl had taken roughly 15 men back to his hideout and gathered everything that could be used in even the smallest way, shape or form. Returning with an overloaded drop-ship, the remaining population that could either walk or was willing to fight scrambled across the city, gathering scattered survivors, rounding up whatever could be salvaged, fixing what vehicles could be fixed and making a count of every round of ammunition they had left. Despite heavy losses, the human fighting force was still 236 strong with twenty-eight Warthog's and twenty-five mongoose ATV's still ready for action. Furthermore two Scorpion tanks and eight hornet's had survived, not counting the four in the resistance's band and would no doubt go a long way in helping with the assault.

Further adding to the human's arsenal were three ASGM-10 missiles commonly used by Longsword fighters normally used to destroy covenant seraph fighters. While they had no Longsword at their disposal, the resistance had a modified mobile missile launcher on hand that was compatible with the missiles and could even go as far as to remotely control them while having a full video feed while they were being guided to their target. They were no doubt going to come in handy. Griffiths had seen a single one of these completely incinerate an unshielded seraph and he wondered how much damage it would cause once it struck a ground target.

That and the robot that had attacked the city was also added to their arsenal. After it had woken up and appeared to be exhibiting no signs of hostility towards the humans, Griffiths ordered it shut down and put into a quick study. Finding no active directives pertaining to its previous actions, the robot was ordered re-programmed to assist them in their attack on the covenant.

After several hours, the remaining marines and volunteer's were ready to go. They all said their goodbye's to their friends and loved ones and headed off to attack the covenant head-on. Only a few stayed behind to offer protection should the attack fail even though they knew it would be no use. If the humans lost this battle, it would spell doom for the rest of their species.

Meanwhile, Jon was holding on to the side of a hornet, heading in nearly the opposite direction of the battle. Jacob's last known location was about 14 miles northwest of salvation city, about 7 miles from where the battle was going to take place. Jack, the main pilot of the resistance, was familiar with that area and had offered to take him there. Further reinforced by Doyle, he was given a marine-class hornet but was ordered to return to the battle immediately after dropping Jon off. As the hornet traveled through the lifeless, endless sand dunes, Jon couldn't help but stare and take in a small, yet valuable sense of piece in watching the sand pass through the wind. It was quiet and peaceful unlike the past few weeks which had been filled with nothing but chaos and noise. It gave him some room to think. Nobody to fight, no more people chasing him, nothing but silence. He could just relax and think, yet as he started at the clear blue sky above him, he wondered if Mike and his other classmates were watching him. How he wished he could be up there with them.

"_Soon enough…" _he thought. _"Soon enough…"_

Jon then felt the hornet slowing down which put him back into focus. Quickly examining his surrounding brought nothing but question: The vast desert behind them, they had come out to the old Mombasa docks which somehow miraculously survived the wars that devastated much of the earth's surface despite being reduced to mere rusted-out structures due to decades of natural erosion. Aside of the decayed bridge and some small remnants of what used to be a highway nearby, there wasn't much else to look at, although the site of a still-standing structure outside salvation city alone was a spectacle in its own right. Still, something wasn't right about this.

"This is the place?" asked Jon.

"Affirmative, the signal is originating from somewhere inside," replied the pilot.

"How could Jacob be all the way out here? It's miles away from where he should be. Even if he had a warthog or even a hornet, there's no way he could've made it here without being shot down," said Jon.

"Well you are in charge you know. It's your call…" replied the pilot. Although Jon did consider turning back, it was only for a split-second before he quickly erased that thought from his mind.

"No, we're going in but set us down over there," said Jon pointing to a partially un-earthed doorway just inside the run-down dock entrance, surrounded by a mostly eroded fence.

Both Jon and the pilot exited the hornet. Despite Griffiths' orders to leave once he dropped Jon off, the pilot refused to do so. After a quick survey of the area and finding no traps of covenant of any kind, Jon prepared to enter the docks. Checking to make sure his assault rifle and SMG were in working condition, he saw that the overhead door was also conveniently left unlocked which told him only one thing.

"Ok, I'm gonna go have a look around," Jon said, raising the overhead door which lead into the dock area. Checking to make sure nothing was inside before stepping in, he turned to the pilot.

"If anything happens to me or any covenant show up, get out of here. Don't risk your life trying to save mine. I've already had enough people die needlessly because of something that involved me," finished Jon. The pilot nodded and turned to guard the surrounding area. Quickly checking again to make sure nothing was inside, Jon stepped inside the dock area and shut the overhead door behind him.

Crouching, Jon spun around and crept to the edge of the upper portion of the ramp. The beacon was close by, but its exact location was undeterminable by the motion tracker so Jon decided to explore the entire place. The ramp led down to a point where one could either go left and/or resume walking forward toward the front end of the pier or could go down one level further. Deciding not to go down just yet, he instead ran left on to the top of a structure marked 'Building K' to get a better vantage point of the alley. A quick scan, even with all the vision modes found no traps or concealed hostiles of any kind. Still deciding not to go that way just yet, he ran over to the other side of Building K, past an enclosed stairway leading down into the structure and what he saw was enough to put a question mark on anyone's head; Eight 12-foot stacks of fish pallets all enclosed in a octagonal pattern by what looked like warehouse doors: An arena.

"_But for what?"_ thought Jon.

Trusting his intuition, he ran back to the other side and down the enclosed stairway which led into a control room of sorts with a ramp on the side leading into the area with the arena. Finding nothing of interest, he headed down into the back hallway. After a couple turns and down another ramp, he came out to the open exit leading to the alley he first scanned. Still not trusting it, he headed down to the level below where he saw nothing but a couple dingy rafts pulled ashore. After another scan that showed absolutely nothing, he sprinted through and up the ramp back to the main level. Taking in his surrounding, he saw an enclosed food stand, another building labeled M and a long stretch of dock. Both the food stand and Building M further down the stretch revealed nothing of interest yet again save for some old oil barrels behind a still-working electronically locked gate. That gave Jon his answer right there. This place was too well maintained and still powered by something. Running to the top of Building M, he jumped on the roof.

"Patrick! It's no secret anymore, I know that you're posing as Jacob and I know you're here! You can come out now, there's no need to play these stupid games anymore!" shouted Jon. No answer. Realizing what Patrick wanted, Jon turned on the motion tracker again which was now visibly picking up the beacon's exact location.

Ignoring the last stretch of unexplored dock which led to an alcove shrouded in darkness, Jon went directly across from Building M into a fully working freezer with a door sealing off the other half to any unwanted company. Turning left, he went through the hall until he came to the small warehouse that had open doors on either side, connecting the front and back of the dock. He quickly went up two ramps set up like a staircase and onto the second floor. To the left was a balcony that was opposite the control box he was in earlier and that overlooked the arena. Back in the warehouse he went straight, where the beacon was coming from. Dead ahead lead out to the part of the dock he wanted to avoid. To the right and up another set of stairs, he came to an air-tight door with a camera watching it and a ramp to his right. The camera tracking him as he went up the ramp, he came to a closed gate with a bright-green button on the side to open it. The beacon and the body of the supposed marine were right there on the other side.

"_Well…if this is what he wants…what I have to do to clear my name…so be it…"_ thought Jon as he pushed the green button. The gate opened and the bridge extended, yet there was nothing for it to extend to. Instead, it extended just over the arena…

Jon slowly crept toward the body, one eye on the motion tracker, the other on his HUD's sensors. After what seemed like an eternity, he reached the body lying conveniently at the end of the bridge. Turning the body over, he saw that it wasn't a body after all; it was only a rag-doll with the beacon around its neck.

"So this is it? This is what I get after all that trouble I went though?" said Jon out loud as he removed the beacon. About ten seconds passed as he simply stared at it before he broke the silence.

"What a goddamn joke!" he said as he angrily crushed the beacon in his hand and proceeded to kick the rag-doll into the makeshift arena below.

"All right Patrick, I played your little game and found your beacon, now come on out!" shouted Jon, standing on the edge of the bridge. About a split second later, he heard a voice clear its throat behind him. Jon spun around but before he could even raise his assault rifle, Patrick delivered a kick to his chest, sending him falling into the arena below. Jon wasn't about to repeat the same mistake twice though as this time around, he managed to regain himself and land in the arena with a massive thud.

"Nice one Jon! Good to see you're capable at saving something for a change," said Patrick before he jumped into the opposite end of the arena.

Jon stared at him, his fists clenched so tight, he thought his fingers would tear through his armor seal. "You're a dead man Patrick," he said in a calm, yet enraged tone.

"Oh ho ho ho…I wouldn't go saying that," replied Patrick as he tossed Jon his assault rifle.

"Know what? You got a point there. After all, we're all dead anyways thanks to you…ready to start the game over?" replied Jon as he loaded a round into the chamber of his rifle.

"More than ready but before we begin, you're a little off on your last statement. None of us are going to die. In fact, it's quite the opposite," said Patrick?

"What the hell are you blathering on about? Have you not seen what's happened over the past 36 hours? What you told **me** last time we spoke?" asked Jon, now fully agitated.

Patrick chuckled slightly. "That…was all a lie," he replied.

Jon's eyes widened. "Then…"

"The future of humanity…is in better hands than you think Jon."

* * *

**Outside Salvation City: Last known relayed position of Covenant setup**

Not wanting to waste anymore of his men, Captain Griffiths confirmed it himself: The Covenant had taken over _The Pillar of Autumn II_ and were using it as a front of sorts to setup their invasion of humanity's final source of civilization. The reason(s) as to why remained unknown but were chalked up to the covenant 'not wanting to get their ships dirty on the heretics home-world.' For as whacked out as it seemed, it also made sense given the covenants overzealous devotion to their religion.

They had set the ship low enough to deploy a gravity life and had already begun setting up shop. From the looks of their current setup though, it seemed as though the covenant spent more time getting their troops out onto the battlefield then they had actually setting up a well-defended outpost. There was a vehicle depot, a makeshift communications center and a barracks. They had set up shop across a wide patch of land but there wasn't any detection gear or strong defenses of any kind save for small guard patrols. The main army however was still poised on the edges of the outer rim of the city in the exact same spot where they stopped after their mysterious retreat. They looked sharp and ready as always but also seemed to be simply standing around, waiting for the attack order to be given. Griffiths didn't know what in the world was going on nor did he care at that point. He had one plan for victory and one plan only and had jumped through hoops getting the assets of his plan into position. If that failed, it was down to taking out as many covenant as he could. Running a quick check to make sure everyone was in place and the missiles were ready to be fired, he clicked on his com. It was time to show the arrogant split-lips who they were dealing with.

"Everyone, this is Griffiths. I'm sure you all know what to do but just to be sure, let's go over it one last time. Missile teams, I've already painted your targets, when I give the signals, launch your respective missiles. After that, hornet teams, you swoop in and start laying waste to any survivors. And finally…Liberation unit, you and I will protect the rogue aliens…and the robot as we storm the gravity lift and take it up to _The_ _Pillar of Autumn II_ in an attempt to re-take it from covenant hands. Maybe then, we might have a chance at winning this. Gauss Warthog team, you guys will be focused on providing any long-range cover you possibly can on our way to the gravity lift. Take out anyone by the gravity lift or anything that tries to intercept us. The rest of you will serve as what I like to call the distraction unit. Your job is simple: Keep the main covenant army occupied for as long as possible…and protect those two damn tanks. The longer you keep them intact, the longer you'll actually have a fighting chance. Everyone not in a vehicle, i.e. the last 68 of you, well…should the vehicle fleet be destroyed, your job is also simple: hold the line for as long as possible."

"Now, when I give the signal, everyone go to it…oh and one more thing, in the event that we fail to re-take the ship, everyone not assigned to the distraction unit will proceed to go and help the distraction unit. It's been one hell of a ride everyone," finished Griffiths as he clicked off his com.

Bracing to give the signal, he clicked on his com one last time. "Fitz, you ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be Roy," replied Fitzgerald who was tasked with leading the attack on the main covenant army.

"Alright then old friend…commence the attack…and Godspeed."

* * *

He was but one of many Major Domo in the covenant army, sharper than a razor, trained to kill and currently in command of the planet-side forces. Yet, he hadn't done any killing at all since he had gotten to this planet. Just when the main infantry force was about to charge, the order to stand down and fall back to the human city perimeter was given. While he obeyed without question, he, along with virtually everyone else out on the field was baffled by this directive. This was completely unprecedented and unacceptable. This was a directive that had never been given before in the history of their empire. It almost seemed surreal…but the order was clear and so was the voice who gave the order.

Still, something was odd about the past few minutes. He heard and felt a massive rumble coming towards him that only grew louder with each passing second and a huge cloud of dust started to form in its direction as well. He couldn't fight the urge any longer and brought his focus rifle to bear. What he saw nearly took his breath away: A large vehicular human force storming towards his position; A full-scale counter-attack on the humans part. Why? What was the meaning of this? Don't they realize they've lost already? There's no way they could win…was this the reason the fleet master told them to fall back? To give the humans time to prepare? Was there a traitor amongst their ranks? What in the name of the gods was going on?

Just then, a voice burst through his com. "What are you all doing just standing there?" came the fleet masters voice.

"Uhh…Fleet Master…you gave the order to fall back," replied the Major

"No, I did not. Our communications were hacked, a false order was given using a replication of my voice! Whoever did this bought the humans plenty of time to regroup and now they're heading straight for you! Stop standing around and go attack them!"

With that said, the Major clicked on his com and gave the order to charge.

* * *

Twenty Warthog's, all the Mongoose's, eight of the hornets and both Scorpion tanks charged the covenant army. It wasn't long before a stream of banshee's swooped in and began firing on the humans. The Warthogs returned fire, while the hornets moved to engage the banshees to try and take some weight off the ground forces. Ghost's charged the Warthogs and Wraiths began firing from afar on the human fleet. Their globs of brilliant white light struck the ground, destroying two of the warthogs. Tanks fired on the charging ghosts, lines of crossfire erupted, destroyed vehicles; banshees and hornets alike fell from the sky. Chaos was everywhere.

* * *

Griffiths watched as the alarm was sounded back at the makeshift base. He saw covenant coming out of their barracks, guards taking up positions, drivers/pilots rushing to the vehicle depot. He waited until he felt there were enough aliens at their posts.

"Now," he ordered. The first missile fired, its target dead in its sights. The missile struck the strewn about vehicles and exploded, covering most of the makeshift bay in a cloud of orange-white light and black smoke.

"Second one launch." The second missile was fired at the communications center. It struck the ancient stone structure the covenant had set up shop in, crippling it and forcing it to come crashing down, crushing all who were inside and in the immediate vicinity of the blast/collapse.

"Now the final one." The third missile made its way toward the barracks, it too being smothered in a massive explosion as the missile found its target. Satisfied with the damage, Griffiths ran to his Warthog.

"Ready for this Doyle?"

"Hell yeah Griffiths!"

"Alright, we got em nice and good boys. Hornet teams, move out and harass any survivors. Liberation Unit, we are ago!" he said over his com.

The Liberation unit, consisting of the Deus Ex Machina robot and the two Decapitators were guarded by two M41 Gunner Warthogs and three transport Warthogs from the back-side who were carrying 21 marines in total that were to aid the trio in re-taking the ship. The engines revved and the Liberation unit charged. As they sped towards their destination, Griffiths could see the hornets already hard at work killing any and all survivors and the gauss Warthogs keeping the hindrances off their backs. Sharp beams of white light passed over them and impacted on the defenses around the gravity lift with deadly accuracy.

As they approached the lift, the M41's opened fire, killing any remaining stragglers. Griffiths motioned to the other driver and made a hand sign. The two gunner warthogs reached their destination and took up strategic positions around the gravity lift to ward off any would-be liberators of the now human-controlled gravity lift. The trio stopped short of the lift and the transport hogs stopped right beside them, still in formation as all the occupants dismounted. Griffiths also dismounted and approached them, holding the pheromone in his hand.

"Alright, to our would-be super-heroes, go through the gravity lift. You'll most likely come out to the main loading bay of the ship. Wherever you come out on, kill everything that isn't human, secure the area and wait for us."

The trio nodded and went inside the lift.

* * *

Inside the ship, a hive of covenant activity scrambled all over the place, preparing to send a massive wad of reinforcements down to the surface when there was a flash of light from the gravity lift. Everyone turned to see two Sangheili and a robot standing there. They all knew who it was. Before anyone could act through, each member of the trio was on the target of their choosing. Within seconds, covenant were being slaughtered, equipment was being smashed, and all the enhancements given to them by Patrick and Leonard gave them a set of skills no one could match. As Griffiths watched from the robots perspective through the camera feed in his helmet, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction. For the longest time, he had felt nothing but hopelessness and despair but now, seeing the covenant scrambling for help and being effortlessly slaughtered, seeing the tables turned, he couldn't help but smile.

* * *

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a voice broke through the com. "Captain, have you retaken the ship yet? We're getting hammered out here!"

The humans were losing the battle and fast. The tanks were able to handle the ghosts and withstand the banshee's punishment and the warthogs were holding their own initially. It wasn't until the infantry charged that the battle started turning against their favor. There were just too many in the covenants ranks. The lesser vehicles were easily swarmed and the eight hornets were down to a mere three due to the superior number of banshees. The tanks had already killed what seemed like legions of covenant yet they still charged in a seemingly endless sea. They would soon be overwhelmed by the covenant and with their defeat would go any further defense of Salvation City. Time was running out…

"We just took the main vehicle bay and are about to enter the ship. Hang in there."

"Jesus Christ, hurry Roy!"

Griffiths turned to his team. "Alright everyone, the coast is clear, we're entering now! Doyle, stay here." With that, every marine not on warthog duty stepped into the gravity lift. One by one, they all ascended into the _Pillar of Autumn II_.

Inside, the whole place was trashed. Dead bodies hanging over terminals, impaled on communication arrays, body-size scorch marks embedded into the walls and floor, destroyed equipment both human and covenant strewn about everywhere and the three very handy helpers standing in the center of it all like a proud conquering army.

"Hot damn…" one of the marines said.

"I second that," replied Griffiths as his mind trailed off into the massacre he saw before them.

"Uh, anyways," he said clearing his thoughts. "Alright team, we're pushing into the command center. You three lead the way and kill anything that isn't human. The rest of you, cover their sixes and mop up anything that remains or follows us. We need to hurry, Fitzgerald won't last much longer. Move out!"

With that, everyone made a mad dash for the control room. The decapitators and robot lead the way with Griffiths behind them, directing them to the control room. Through the hallways, vehicle bays and living quarters they went, ripping through anything that stood in their way until at last they reached the control room. Taking care of some mild resistance, clearing out unnecessary covenant equipment and a quick analysis of the stations revealed that the covenant left the ship completely intact…a mistake that would cost them dearly. Leaving any non-essential personnel to guard the entrance (decapitator team included) Griffiths directed everyone to their appropriate stations.

"Alright everyone, you ready to kick some ass?" asked Griffiths.

"Sir Yes Sir!" everyone replied.

"Alright…Fitz come in. Can you hear me?

"Affirmative, where are you guys?"

"We've re-taken the ship, moving in to help you guys,"

"Well you might wanna hurry it the fuck up captain. The tanks have been destroyed and our vehicle fleet is almost gone entirely. What's worse: The infantry is already heading toward us! Uhh…don't worry about anyone out there, they're most likely all dead."

"Alright, stay calm we're on our way…oh and find a place to hunker down. Things are about to get noisy," finished Griffiths.

He then turned his attention to the crew. "Marines, time to kill us a covenant army. Virg, we ready to move?"

"Almost. Gravity lift…disabled…re-routing power to main engines…engines online, ready to go," he replied.

"25% power…and ready Archer pods A though I. I want a firing solution too once we're in visual range." With that said, _The Pillar of Autumn II_'s engines roared to life, this time under human control and headed for the battlefield, ready to return a much-owed favor to the covenant ten times over.

* * *

The major domo was at the forefront of the mighty legions of infantry standing behind him. They had wiped out the humans vehicle force and the few remaining human infantry wouldn't stand a chance. After dealing with them, he would lead the attack into the city itself and wipe out humanity once and for all. It was to be a great day indeed…but it wasn't meant to be this time. Just as he was ready to give the attack order, he was swept off his feet as a massive sand storm suddenly started sweeping across the battlefield, winds so strong, they tossed both soldiers and inanimate objects around like toys. When he finally got back up on his feet, he looked around to see what the cause of that sudden storm was. There was no way it was a natural storm, it was too powerful and brief.

* * *

"We ready boys?" asked Griffiths.

"Firing solution ready, missiles locked, awaiting your signal."

"Good…send em all back to wherever they crawled out of."

* * *

Looking up though gave the domo his answer. The human ship was poised over the battlefield, looking right at them. It wasn't long before he saw numerous objects come flying out of the ship on either side. He watched as they all traveled gracefully through the air…and then started raining down on the wraiths from afar and erupting into clouds of orange-white light as they steadily worked their way toward him, taking anything that stood in their path with it. The major knew what was happening, the humans had won. All he could was close his eyes and wait for the first sign of paradise as his world was suddenly overcome by excruciating pain…and then nothing.

* * *

Back onboard the bridge, the crew was all cheers. The main covenant force had been wiped out and humanity finally had a genuine victory on their record. This would be a day of celebration indeed. Even Griffiths couldn't help but smile too…until reality quickly returned.

"Oh shit…everyone, quiet down!" he shouted. He quickly turned on his com. "Fitzgerald, you still there?"

No response.

"Fitz? Fitz! Goddamn it, answer me or so god help you!"

"…Roy…can you please not yell…my head hurts enough…"

"How many are left?" replied Griffiths softly.

"…here…we're all here…everyone that wasn't already in the fight…I…I can't even begin to explain, I…ah fuck it, just let me sleep," replied Fitzgerald.

Griffiths breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Alright buddy. Get some rest, you earned it."

Suddenly, one of the marines chimed in. "Uh, captain…what about the covenant fleet?"

Griffiths perked up. "Aw man, I forgot about that…well we'll most likely have to engage them. I don't think they'll be too happy once they find out their entire army's been wiped out. Regardless, our first task is to clear _this_ ship of any covenant and round up any and all survivors on the surface and then we can start worrying about that damned fleet."

Just as he finished, a marine guarding the entrance burst into the room. "Captain, it's the robot and rogue covenant, they're acting strange."

"Oh you gotta be **kidding** me!" he exclaimed as he ran out to see what was happening. What he saw was the robot and decapitators simply standing there facing the marines who had all their guns trained on them while the robot was speaking nonsensically.

"Primary directives deactivated…humans no longer necessary…initiating final directive…"

"Christ, there's always something isn't there," said Griffiths now fully irritated. "Alright boys, get ready to blast em into oblivion…not that it'll much good."

"Final directive: Destroy Covenant Fleet: Initiated

"What?" said Griffiths. With that, the robot and decapitators turned around and ran off.

"Orders sir?"

"Follow them, everyone, let's go!" ordered Griffiths.

* * *

The trio, now acting alone on an unknown directive, ran toward the reactor room, too fast for Griffiths and his men to keep up. All they could hear was the sound of covenant being slaughtered, followed shortly by the sight of their mutilated bodies as the marines gave chase. After only a few minutes, they had reached the door to the reactor. The robot fired a full clip of grenades from his brute launcher while the decapitators finished knocking down the door as he reloaded. With that, they entered the room.

* * *

As the marines approached a three-way intersection in the hallways of the ship, it seemed as though they lost their rogue allies…that is until they heard a massive explosion. Everyone sped toward the reactor fearing the worst. The fighting only seemed to get louder with each passing step until they were right around the corner. As they ran down the last hallway before the entrance to the reactor, a brilliant flash of light came from the room. Griffiths thought they had destroyed the reactor and that it was all over for them…until the light subsided. Puzzled, he stepped inside the reactor room only to find what could only be described as a large archway with a strange double-helix shaped greenish glow in the middle. Of course, there were dead covenant and their smashed gear all over the place to accommodate it as well.

"What is that captain?" one of the marines asked.

"To be perfectly honest…I don't know…but more importantly, where did our little friends go?"

"I think I know what it is," another Marine said. "I think this is what the covenant have been using to transport all their troops and gear onto this ship. I mean, it's big enough to fit a phantom or a wraith through."

Everyone gave the marine an odd look, including Griffiths. "Y'know…as crazy as that sounds…it's perfectly tangible in this case…good job marine."

"Thanks sir…but umm…what exactly are we going to do now that our friends are gone? I mean…more covenant could come through here any second," he added.

"Oh, right…well first thing we should do is see if we can get this thing deactivated…or smash it or something and then-" The greenish glow suddenly died, perplexing everyone.

"Ok…I don't mean to be rude sir, but exactly what the fuck is going on here?" said the first marine after about a minute of just standing there.

"Again, I don't-"

"Roy!" Doyle interrupted suddenly. "You need to get outside and fast!"

"Why? What's happening?"

"The covenant mothership…it just blew up…and it took the other five ships with it!"

"Karl…are you saying that-"

"Yes sir…yes I am…the war is over…and we're victorious!"

**Authors note: **Terribly sorry for this taking so long. Blame writers block, a really bad case of writers block. Hope you enjoyed this. Only two more chapters to go. Next one will focus on the final elements of the story and then we can start what everyone's wanted all along: Jon vs Patrick in a fight to the death.


	4. Episode 12 Motive behind the Madness

**Deus Ex Machina: Episode 12 – "Motive behind the Madness"**

"'The future of humanity is in better hands than you think'? Can you actually make sense for a change instead of hitting me with another riddle? You had no problem doing so when you told me we were all doomed," said Jon.

Patrick let out a heavy sigh. "Sure, why not? I'll reveal myself to you, down to the smallest detail. I mean it's the least I can do before I kill you," he said happily.

"But first, let us go back a little ways in time for a quick history lesson or none of this will make any sense. You see back when we were all still in university, I wasn't exactly the most popular person around…then again, I never really was but I'm sure you're already fully aware of it. Anyways, yeah…I was the kid everyone picked on, berated, beat up, etc all throughout my entire fucking school career. The lone exception was my dad. He was the one thing that kept me from either becoming a drug dealer, murderer, killing myself, shit like that. He and I were best friends… no, we were more than best friends, more than father and son, we were a team. I never knew my mother since she was murdered shortly after I was born so he was all I had. Then one day, he lost his job and we were in a dire situation. So he enlisted…all just to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. Then one day, the covenant attacked and during that time, he suffered a serious head injury due to being too close to an explosion. He survived thanks to his armor…but it changed him. He was no longer the kind, caring person that I knew. He was someone…that scared me. He was nasty, brutal and ruthless. I don't know where he got little band of cronies from but that's when it all happened; The drug operation, his plot to take over the city, everything including the kitchen sink."

"He even forgot he had a son. Yeah, imagine that. Your own father forgets you even exist. I was able to prove to him that I was his and when that happened, he beat the shit outta me. I was on my own from there. I had never felt so alone in my life…but there was one thing that kept me going. My desire to eradicate the covenant grew with each passing day. I began to develop an insurmountable thirst for vengeance and let me tell you…vengeance is one hell of a poison. Shame and rage are its two main ingredients and I had plenty of both. Still, I was able to stay strong, keep going, knowing one day that I would obtain my goal. Then there came the day where you made that nice little remark about my him!"

Jon's head moved back slightly, remembering that day and how Mike told him he should have apologized.

"Feeling a little guilty? Good, because that's when you factored into the equation as well. I then wanted to revenge against both the covenant _and_ you after that. I wanted to show you what it felt like to hit rock bottom while I took out the race of overzealous warmongers."

"So that's why you killed Mike? Just to make me-"

"No," Patrick cut him off sternly. "Jon…above all else, the only thing I ask of you is to believe me when I say I did _**not**_ kill Michael."

"Then…what happened?" Jon replied reluctantly.

"You're not the only one who went though hardships during your little vigilante crusade Jon and considering the living hell Mike went through for a full month while you were sleeping like a baby though most of it, he should have been the one to break down, not you," said Patrick.

Jon's fists were now clenched. He tried to speak. "Do you know what I-"

"Yes Jon! Yes I do! However, I wasn't finished speaking yet so be a good listener and shut your mouth for a second! Anyways, in addition to being tortured for a month, he also braved fighting an uber-strong you, who was willingly being led around by a parasite you could have easily overpowered, as well as a mob that wanted _him _dead as well as you **and** also saw the downfall of his best friend while you turned a blind eye to everything he was going through! So don't you dare try to justify to me that you're the one who's suffered the most here!"

Jon was about to retaliate when he then found himself unable to speak, unable to come up with any retort whatsoever for one reason and one reason only: Patrick was right…about everything. The memories came rushing forward, this time with crystal clear clarity. It was like a slideshow that Jon couldn't stop. He now remembered seeing the deep sorrow in Michael's eyes, the silent cries for help, how he hadn't even noticed it, not for a second.

"All of these events are what drove Michael…to commit suicide."

There was nothing Jon could say. He knew Patrick was right. Jon suddenly felt hollow, like he wasn't even in his own body. He wanted to die…until he remembered that he could leave just yet. There were still a couple unanswered questions.

"Wait a minute," said Jon. "Then...that video...who was that?"

"A simple robot clone designed to look like a human. I could never kill Michael. He was one of the very few people that was actually kind to me on a day-to-day basis. He shot himself shortly after you left. I found him dead and just for the record, I gave him a proper burial next to the rest of your classmates. Besides, you do remember I specialize in robotics, right? asked Patrick.

"Oh yeah...that's right...that answers that, let's pick up where we left off. You were MIA shortly after you enlisted. What happened after that?"

"To make a long story short: Covenant attack, a man named Leonard Phillips saves my life, we become friends, share each-others life stories, he agrees to help me out after hearing my plan and that's where the decapitators and robot come from. My extensive studying of covenant technology also helped me in screwing up their communications, hence the false order to retreat, buying us time to prepare and counter-attack. The whole robot fiasco and luring the UNSC down here though…yeah, that was all me. I was never under control of the covenant nor did I ever get captured by them. I just gave you that whole speech and pulled that stunt to share my misery and feeling of hopelessness with the rest of this uncaring world…and boy did I ever do so."

"However, I feel like we've evaded the main topic long enough and I have explained everything you've ever wanted to know, no?" said Patrick.

"Go on," said Jon.

"The decapitators and the Deus Ex Machina robot. How did the pheromone get there? Why all of a sudden is the robot taking orders from the marines and aiding you when it was previously trying to kill everything in salvation city? One, because I placed the pheromone there and two because I programmed it to do so."

"What? Y-you mean…"

"Yes Jon, its initial directive was to carry out said Doomsday mission until it had achieved its primary objective. It was then programmed to shutdown until its back panel was opened. Then, its new primary objective activated and its original one was completely erased. The decapitators are also part machine and are programmed to protect the robot at all costs upon reaching the vicinity of the robot. However, despite the fact that there is not a bio bomb inside the robot, there is a bomb in there nonetheless…a nuclear bomb."

A thought suddenly crossed Jon's mind. "Patrick…what's the robot's final objective?"

"Oh you're smart today Jon…the robot's final objective is to aid the marines in re-taking _The Pillar of Autumn II_. Once aboard the ship, they are to proceed to the teleporter the covenant are using to move all equipment from their ships to ours and enter the heart of the covenant fleet."

"Back up…a teleporter did you say?" asked Jon.

"Why yes, didn't you know? The covenant would **never** bring their own ships onto our planet for fear that they'd become 'desecrated' by our planet or something like that, something to do with their crazy religion, I don't know. What I do know though is that it's reason enough for them to take over our ship so it could act as a middle-man of sorts…and that is where they made their biggest mistake."

* * *

On-board the _Grand Transcendence_, the place was a hive of activity; equipment being moved, communications being monitored, more Sangheili readying to go through the portal, when suddenly there was flash of white light. When the flash cleared, all attention turned toward the entrance to see a human robot and two Sangheili standing next to it. Everyone froze, unsure of what to do. A message then played on the robot's external speakers.

_This is specialist Patrick Owen of the United Nations Space Command, serial number X29-423-334 and every last one of you genocidal monsters have about ten seconds to pray to your damned heathen gods. This is what you bastards get for fucking up my life. Have a good day in hell. _

"So that's explains why we lost contact with our warriors aboard the human ship," said the fleet admiral.

* * *

"So you mean to tell me that when the robot and the decapitators go through the portal, then…"

"Yes Jon, yes indeed..."

The fusion warhead inside the robot detonated, atomizing the robot, decapitators and everyone inside the command room instantly. It quickly caused a series of chain reactions that spread throughout the ship, quickly reaching its reactor. After about a minute of chain explosions, the super carrier finally erupted into a massive white and blue ball of light, tinged with ultraviolet. The nine other smaller ship that were grouped around it were also caught and vaporized in the nova-like explosion. The entire covenant fleet was effectively wiped out.

* * *

A flash suddenly came out of nowhere, so bright that Jon's visor had to polarize to 100% to protect his eyes. It lasted for about four minutes. When his vision finally came to, he looked around and saw Patrick standing in the exact same spot where he was before the flash. He hadn't moved, hadn't tried to attack him, nothing. He just stood there as he finished his sentence.

"…Ka-boom."

Jon simply stood there, trying to comprehend what had just taken place. If that explosion was indeed inside the covenant mothership, then that meant that the war was over, humanity was victorious and it was all thanks to the man whom up until a few minutes ago was the person responsible for what seemed like their complete annihilation. Patrick then spoke exactly what was going through Jon's mind, his words matching the exact thoughts as they were processed.

"It's kinda funny…I've done such terrible things within the last 30 or so hours, things that would make people like you and Captain Griffiths shoot me dead on sight…yet I turned out to be the good guy all along. Isn't that strange?" Patrick laughed.

"I…I'm stunned…too stunned for words even," said Jon.

"Then don't tell me how you feel with words. Tell me how you feel with your fists…because if I recall correctly…we're not quite done here yet," replied Patrick as he turned his back to Jon and walked a few steps.

"Now if my memory serves me correctly…oh that's right: **We still have a score to settle!**" said Patrick as he turned around, pointing his finger at Jon.

"Yes…yes we do!" said Jon, his fists clenched as he picked up and readied his assault rifle.

* * *

Every able marine was searching the battlefield looking for any wounded or survivors and killing any remaining covenant. Even Griffiths was among them, working alongside the rest of his men, including Karl and his crew. After what they'd been through, it was the least he could do for them. He stopped to wipe the sweat off his brow when Fitzgerald broke through the com.

"Captain, can you talk?"

"I suppose, what's up?"

"It's about Jon…we've lost his signal sir."

"What? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know…he just dropped right off the map."

"What was his last known location?"

"Right where we'd sent him to find Jacob."

Griffiths didn't know what was going on but one thing he was sure of; he was absolutely fed up with mysteries and unexplained phenomenon's "Alright that does it. Get me out best able men and two hornets. We're going after him **now**!"

* * *

**End Chapter**

Author's Note: One more chapter left. Yes, it will all end in the next chapter guaranteed. The storytelling is out of the way, now it's time to settle the score!


	5. Episode 13 Two Heroes

**Deus Ex Machina: Episode 13 – "Two Heroes"**

The two men just stood there, probing for the right moment to attack. It was all down to this. The last of the covenant were wiped out and humanity was no longer in harm's way of suffering another attack from them. The city had been saved and all truths had come to light. This was it. One last thing to do, one last crime to stop, one last mess to clean up or however you want to put it. No more speeches, ideology exchanges, none of that. Just one last fight to fight for no other reason except for the fact that they could.

John could feel death approaching. All the accumulated events both physical and mental had taken its final toll on his body. He knew he probably wouldn't last through this fight, much less beyond it. Still, that was enough to drive him to clench his fists. Then, the moment came…

The two men charged, racing toward one-another, each to finish their respective fights. Faster and faster they ran until they came within punching distance. Jon immediately channeled all the suits available energy into his right fist as the two landed a solid punch on each-others face. The sheer force of the two colliding tore a crater two meters wide in the ground where they were standing as they were both sent flying in their respective opposite directions. Patrick, his body already enhanced by countless drugs, didn't need to channel anything for an extra boost. His body was already physically strong enough to send Jon flying twice as hard as he was sent. Patrick was able to land on one knee while Jon hit the ground hard enough to crack it open and sent him traveling another 10 feet, tearing up more concrete as both he and the concrete pile landed against the arena wall. His suit absorbed the impact but his visor was visibly cracked by the punch. He had to rethink his strategy.

He got to his feet and started to run along the walls of the arena. Patrick followed suit as the two circled each-other. Jon threw a plasma grenade but as soon as it hit Patrick, he disappeared, the grenade hitting the wall instead. _"An afterimage?" _was all Jon had time to think before Patrick reappeared on his left flank, delivering a elbow to Jon's face, sending him tumbling across the arena.

"_Damn it…he's fast…too fast, I never imagined…" _Jon thought as he panted heavily. He raised his assault rifle and fired a volley of rounds at Patrick, every bullet bouncing off his armor as he stood there taking it in, showing Jon how pathetic his attempts to fight him were.

"HAHAHA! The great Deus Ex Machina…is that all you've **got**"? laughed Patrick as he ran up to Jon and delivered a swift roundhouse kick to Jon's helmet, once again sending him halfway across the arena. Jon now laying flat on his back, forced himself to sit up as he took out his pistol and emptied the clip into Patrick, it too having absolutely no effect on the brute. Patrick didn't charge again though. He just stood, giving Jon a curious look.

"Ok it's not as funny the second time around…or were you being serious? Is this all you've got? Sheesh no wonder you're such a fail. Who needs guns in a fight like this?" Patrick then tossed Jon an energy sword while brandishing his own. Jon forced himself to stand and assumed a fighting stance.

"You can make the first move," said Patrick. Jon charged again and struck Patrick's blade with all his strength. The two then proceeded to engage in a vicious melee with Jon slashing wildly and Patrick easily parrying all of his petty attacks.

"I've run several theories during the course of our fight, trying to figure out why you can't win…but I think I've finally found the exact reason," said Patrick as he continued to block Jon's moves with ease. "You have no drive to win this, am I correct?"

"Huh?" asked Jon as he stopped momentarily. In that moment, Patrick made a quick, small slash, targeting the base of the sword, rupturing its power core, extinguishing the blade. Jon then realized he'd been tricked. He thought Patrick would kill him right then and there but instead, he simply put his sword away and stood there.

"Once again…am I correct?" he asked. Jon threw a punch and Patrick caught it. Bringing Jon to one knee, he continued. "Just as I thought, you really don't have any motivation to do this, do you? The only reason you're even fighting is so you can say you died fighting instead of hiding. You never had any drive for anything. All life was and still is to you is one big joke, something you just coast through with no purpose at all."

"That's not true!" Jon grunted.

"Oh I beg to differ…tell me, did you have an idea what you were getting into when you started this whole vigilante gig? Did you really want to be regarded as a hero? Or did you just do it for the fame? I'd say it's the latter. Yeah, that seems like the logical explanation. You could never be like me Jon. You could never do what I did. I knew exactly what humanity had to do to survive, the sacrifices that needed to be made, yet I took said initiative to ensure our survival. The robot, the alien attack, bringing all earth's defenses planet-side and giving the covenant straight access to our city, getting all those people killed for a slim chance of winning. I'll be the bad guy in song and tale years from now guaranteed while you'll be the hero that saved the day. Not one ounce of credibility will be given to me even though I so damn well deserve it yet I did all this anyway, all to save our species. I toiled day and night, fought on no matter what to save a world that had brought me nothing but misery and despair from the day I was born, labeled myself as the villain of this story yet I gave my life, all to deem this world and our people, the two things I treasure the most, worthy of preservation and I did it all without being recognized," replied Patrick.

Grabbing Jon by the chest plate, he brought him face to face. "Can you do that Jon? Can you push onward like I did? Can you go through all that I've gone through and still die a happy man? Can you fight to save a society that has tormented you from day one every chance it got? Can you knowingly endanger the last of our kind and bring upon the deaths of all those people just for a very slim shot at winning all the while knowing that if your plan did in fact succeed, you'd only be regarded as the villain anyways? Do you have the strength, the courage, the resolve to do that? Do you possess the mental fortitude required to undertake a life of such misery? Of a task so monumental even the gods themselves would fear it? Because let me tell you something…"

"I…Say…**NO!**" shouted Patrick as he delivered a punch to Jon's chest. "NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" he continued as he poured his heart out, delivering a barrage of punches so powerful, they kept Jon in the air. Jon could do nothing. Patrick was too powerful, so much to the point where Jon couldn't even move to try and defend himself. All he could do was endure and continuously spit out whatever came up from his stomach.

"**NOT! AT! ALL!**" screamed Patrick as he finished with a massive punch to Jon's abdomen. Jon felt something break open inside him, a warm trickle and then nothing.

With that, Patrick withdrew is arm…and Jon dropped to the ground…dead.

* * *

When Jon came to, everything around him was white. He couldn't see anything, it was like being in the center of a white light. All around him it was bright, yet something was wrong. He couldn't feel any pain or fatigue. It was like nothing was wrong with him. He felt perfect yet hollow at the same time.

"Hello?" he called. No answer.

"Anyone there?" Again, nothing. It was then he realized: He was dead.

"I…I don't believe this," he said in disbelief. He was dead and Patrick was still alive. Jon had failed. Failed to stop Patrick, failed to save even one of his classmates, failed to give any real hope or light to the people in his short lifespan and yet here he was, dead himself. With that, he broke down and cried like he never had before. The tears didn't stop, he was letting it all out, all the numbness had faded, the shock worn off, the walls concealing his emotions had finally come down. He felt worthless, like a waste of space. Everything was gone from him but hopelessness and despair…until he heard a familiar voice.

"C'mon man, get up. This isn't the Jon Brent I know," said Michael. With that he looked up to see Michael standing in front of him.

"Mike…" he said softly.

"Heh…good to see you buddy. Not just me though, we're in company here." The rest of his classmates then appeared one by one.

"Dan?" Jon said. He nodded.

"Katie? Dawn? Nick? Steven? Scott? You're all here!" Jon said happily.

"Yep, we are…but you can't join us just yet man. You still have one last thing to do," said Michael.

"What? What are you talking about? We're all dead," Jon said laughing. He quickly stopped when he saw the seriousness in all of them.

"We are, not you though. You can still get back to your body one last time…you need to stop Patrick."

"Why? Why can't I just forget about all that? Why can't I just stay?" asked Jon.

"Because you swore to yourself…on our graves even, that you'd put a stop to all this. Patrick may not be responsible for any of our deaths but who knows what he'll do if he survives this day. Look…he may have had good intentions and he definitely saved humanity as we know it, but look at all the chaos and death he's caused. His mind has been damaged beyond repair. It's astounding he even remembers his initial intentions after all he's been though. If he survives, what if he wants to cause more of this just for the fun of it or something like that? Would you be satisfied with that ending?" asked Michael. Jon simply lowered his head.

"Jon I know how you feel…I felt the same way at one point except I took my own life and I immediately regretted it. Only difference is I can't go back to my body and set things right or at least try to and this guilt that's inside me will stay with me forever. Don't go the route that I did, set things right. Stop Patrick. You may not believe in yourself but we do and that's why we're here. We're here because we believe in you!" said Michael.

Jon looked up, saw the looks in his classmate's eyes and made up his mind.

"So will you do this? If not for you, then for us?" asked Michael as he extended his hand.

"I…I will," said Jon confidently as he took Michael's hand. As he was brought up face to face with his best friend, he felt himself slipping away, back to the world of the living.

"Thanks man," said Michael. Jon nodded.

"I'll see you soon everyone!" shouted Jon.

"Yes! Yes you will! See you then!" replied Michael.

* * *

Patrick stood over Jon body breathing heavily. He had won but the battle had taken a toll on his body. Still, he couldn't stop here. The marines had no doubt realized they lost his signal and would be on their way to find him. In his current state, his body exhausted from the fight, they could pose a serious threat. He had to get out and was just about to make his exit when his suit detected Jon's heartbeat again. Looking down, he saw Jon, his body lying face first on the ground, trying to get up. Patrick was shocked.

"That last punch should have killed you," he said. "No…no…something isn't right, I ruptured god knows how many organs and vital systems in your body, death was instantaneous. Even without that punch, you should have died. What are you still doing alive?" he exclaimed, the shock now worn off and anger filling inside him.

"God-damn you Jon…what the fuck is wrong with you? Why don't you just **die **already? All your friends are dead, the people of salvation city view you as a murderer at this point, you hate life, you're depressed and miserable all the time, you don't have any drive to do anything! Not only that, but surely you must know by now just how powerful I am. You know you can't beat me, it's absolutely pointless to keep fighting…I did you a favor by killing you! There's no pain or fear anymore on the other side, you can be with all your friends again…yet you still insist on staying alive? Why Jon? Why do you keep doing this to yourself?" demanded Patrick.

Patrick's tirade somehow threw a switch in Jon's brain. It was suddenly no longer a struggle to stand up; he simply did, removed his helmet and looked at him dead in the face. "I might not have any drive to do anything or to keep fighting for that matter. I want to die and I don't believe in myself…but my classmates do…and as long as that's the case, I refuse to die until **you** are dead and I'll personally see to it that I kill you myself," he said with a confident grin.

With that, Patrick's knuckles cracked and he moved in for the kill. He swung with his right arm but the toll from the battle kicked in and searing pain shot throughout his body, allowing Jon to easily block the now weak punch. Still, Patrick wasn't about to give up. Through sheer willpower, he swung with his left and Jon blocked that too but dropped his own left arm in the process, allowing Patrick to slug him in the abdomen again…with one catch.

"_No effect?"_ Patrick thought to himself. _"No…NO! Not now!"_

"That all you got? What happened to all that power of yours? I didn't even feel that," chuckled Jon.

"Shut-up!" yelled Patrick as he swung with his left arm again, then his right, now fully desperate to kill Jon, his strength drained away to almost nothing. Jon easily blocked both punches, then made his own move. Unbeknownst to Patrick, Jon had charged up all the suit remaining energy both active and reserved and channeled them into the suits strength function. When Patrick dropped his left arm and he blocked his right, Jon threw a haymaker at Patrick's face. Patrick saw it coming but by the time he moved to block, it was already too late. The force of one metric ton struck Patrick's helmet, shattering almost the entire left side and tearing the face clean off. Jon took a moment to admire the damage he'd done at seeing Patrick dazed out of his mind and his armor now in pieces before uttering one last line.

"Oh and by the way Patrick…you are such an asshole," he said before slamming his left fist into Patrick's chest plate, shattering the struck area to pieces as Patrick went screaming into the arena wall. He hit the wall with such force, that it sent a crack eight ways from the center through nearly the entire wall piece. He fell to the ground face first and was still for about a minute. Struggling to get up, he vomited a mess of blood and bile and was struggling to breathe. The punch had broken his chest bone and ruptured the main airway inside him.

"Y…y-you're…gonna…p-pay for that…you…you," was all Patrick had time to say before he heard a crunch that grew louder and more frequent behind him. Looking behind him, he then saw the arena wall coming down…straight for him. He screamed in terror as the 2000 pound solid stone wall came crashing down on his body, breaking apart as it collided with his armor. Jon's combat stance dropped as the last of his energy faded. All he could do was look up and see the pile of stone and rock where Patrick lay under. Jon wasn't sure how much longer he could hang on but for the first time in a very long time, he smiled a genuine smile. His smile quickly faded however as he saw the rubble begin to move. Patrick was still alive and struggling to get out. It didn't take long before the pile exploded as Patrick broke through screaming in sheer rage, sending debris falling down all over the place.

"I…will…**never**...lose…to a **thing**…like **you**!" roared Patrick with unprecedented rage and malevolence in his voice as he slowly stormed his way towards Jon. The sight of him however was undoubtedly the scarier of the two. His face looked more or less like a rotting corpse with bright green veins that were nearly popping out of him as blood spewed from several smaller veins as well. His hair had fallen out and his eyes looked more alien than any Sangheili Jon had ever seen. The center of his chest plate was gone, exposing his body. What it revealed was a hideously mutated body that was positively glowing with a vibrant mix of green, tossed in with what could only be described as a zombie-like textured skin.

"The drugs…you overused them. Michael was right…only people with the right gene code can properly use them and even at that you can only use a few of them at most. Anymore and it doesn't matter how your gene code is built. They'll mutate you and kill you eventually…I think I finally know how I was able to beat your father. He overused the drugs too and in the end, they wore him down to the point where he couldn't even protect himself." Patrick shot him a death glare, only further certifying that Jon was right.

"SHUT-UP! Don't you **ever** talk about my father in my presence you piece of shit! Besides, look at you, you're barely standing yourself. All your energy from your suit is gone and now, I'll easily k-" His sentence was cut short as he felt a sharp prick coming from his back. He gasped loudly and found himself struggling to breathe. Jon then saw a figure emerge from behind him as it de-cloaked: It was the major domo from the encounter in the decapitator's lair.

"This one's for my race and my people you bastard," the Sangheili said in perfect English as he plunged the sword straight through Patrick's body. Holding it in for a moment to prolong the suffering, he withdrew his sword and kicked Patrick to the ground. Jon could see the wounds hadn't been patched up yet as it was still holding its stomach. He then looked at Jon and gave him a nod. He had heard the entire conversation, waited for the right time where he could actually be of help in his severely weakened state and was now more than willing and able to slay Patrick himself. It seemed as though Patrick's end was finally at hand but he wasn't done just yet. He began to crawl on all fours, away from the Sangheili but to no avail as it kept pace with him.

"_C'mon…c'mon! Just one…more…time…" _he begged the suit in his thoughts. It seemed like an eternity before he could breathe again as the suit managed to heal his puncture wound; probably for the last time. Still, it was enough as he finally reached what he was aiming for: His gravity hammer.

As the Sangheili prepared for the killing move, it spoke. "Any last words human?" it taunted him.

"Yeah…"replied Patrick. "I am specialist Patrick Owen of the United Nations Space Command and the son of a once proud and noble soldier who only has revenge in his heart and mind to keep him going…and I refuse to let some random bastard alien take the only thing I have left to live for from me. So…like I told the rest of your pathetic species before I sent them all into the next dimension…" He turned to look at him.

"Have a good day in hell!" With that, Patrick rose to a crouched stance and spun around, swinging his hammer with all his might. The alien's head popped like a grape being crushed by a car at high speeds and splattered all over the arena floor. With that out of the way, Patrick rose and turned toward Jon.

"What now Jon? Your little savior is dead and you're pretty much at rock bottom. Either way, I can still crush you," he stated as he moved toward Jon. Jon could say nothing and bore an exhausted look. He was right, Patrick had the upper hand, even after all that. Jon was helpless, his body was too tired to move and his suit had expended the last of its energy. It was just dead weight now. Jon closed his eyes.

"_He's right…sorry everyone but it looks like I won't be avenging you guys after all…"_

Just as Patrick was in striking distance, a shot rang aloud. Jon opened his eyes to see Patrick frozen in place and a gaping hole in the center of his exposed chest. He dropped his hammer and fell to the ground, unable to breath, the round had passed right through his airway where the suit had just finished patching him up. He was vomiting now, hanging on to what little life remained, refusing to let death take him until his task was complete. Jon then heard the hornets. They were circling around the perimeter and were slowly descending. He had been so caught up in the fighting that he hadn't even noticed them.

"Alright Marines, go go go!" shouted Captain Griffiths. With that, the captain, Karl and six other marines all rope jumped out of the hornet, four of them landing on either side of Jon and taking up positions to defend him. Among them were Verginson and Fitzgerald.

"You ok Jon?" asked Karl.

"Uhh…I guess…" Jon replied faintly.

"Hang in there buddy, we'll get you some help soon…first we gotta take care of this asshole, " he said, motioning towards Patrick. "Just give the word Captain."

"One second," replied Griffiths. He turned back toward Patrick who was back on his feet by now albeit barely standing. "So Jacob…Patrick or whatever the hell you name is. I should have known Leonard was helping you this entire time. Either way, I've heard the whole thing from Jon himself and under the jurisdiction that now presides over Salvation City and all its territories, the most fitting punishment for all your heinous crimes you have committed is death."

"Nice…to…see…see you too…C-Captain," Patrick wheezed out as he covered the hole in his airway with the suit feeding his body oxygen, no longer able to heal him but still allowing him to take in a few breaths.

"Save it traitor…oh and goodbye too. Everyone: Fire at will! Kill this traitor!" ordered the Captain.

With that, eight assault/battle rifles/shotguns all opened fire on Patrick. He kept one hand over the hole in his chest and put the other one up to protect himself. However he was too weak to do much of anything beyond this, his body drained to almost nothing from the fighting and years of drug overuse finally catching up with him. The bullets continued to rain down on him mercilessly as the marines kept up their constant barrage. Patrick was able to remain standing for all of 20 seconds before he finally turned around and fell over on all four limbs and attempted to crawl away.

'Move in, keep up the pace!" shouted the Captain. The marines moved in, continuing to endlessly pound Patrick's failing armor and body. Try as he might, it was too little too late. He wasn't going anywhere at this point. As the marines circled him and continued to shoot at him, he finally realized he couldn't win and prepared himself for the inevitable moment. Just as he closed his eyes though, the gunfire stopped. He opened them and looked up to see Captain Griffiths pointing a pistol at his head.

"Sorry boys but this one's mine," he said motioning toward his fellow marines. This suddenly triggered his last bit of strength, his last remnant of will to fight. The taunt filled him with rage, his life flashed before his eyes and he decided he wasn't going to go out this way. As he heard the gun click, he moved.

"NO!" he shouted as he grabbed the Captain's hand. Griffiths groaned in pain, as Patrick had regained some of his superhuman strength.

"I don't care who you are Captain. You will **not **take my revenge from meeeeeeeeeee!" he shrieked out as he threw Griffiths aside. Karl moved in and struck Patrick on the head with the butt of his rifle. It didn't faze the brute as Patrick back-handed Karl in the face. The two then had a brief slugfest until Patrick kicked him down. The other six marines then joined in. Patrick gave a valiant effort but his strength was gone by now and he was now fighting out of heart alone. Jon however, was done simply watching. He didn't know why but seeing Patrick going out like this struck a chord in him. Memories of seeing him being beaten up relentlessly by bullies came rushing forward. It was happening to him all over again and he was going to die this way. Despite all the pain and misery he had caused in the last day, considering all the misery and torment he had gone throughout all his life along with all that he had saved, it didn't warrant a death as pathetic as this.

"S…stop it…" said Jon as loud as he could. No effect. He had to try harder.

"Stop…it!" still nothing. Now he was mad.

"I said **STOOOOOOOOOOOP!**" Everyone turned to look at him. "Patrick…is **my** opponent…and it's just like he said…I won't…let anyone take my revenge…from me either," he managed to gasp out.

"Jon...what th-"

"Karl, if you stop me now, I'll never forgive you, ever!" growled Jon

Karl turned toward Griffiths. "Captain…" he nodded.

"Alright Marines…back off." They all obeyed.

Satisfied, Jon turned toward Patrick. "Come on Patrick…let's…let's finish this." With great strides he managed to walk toward Patrick. His opponent stood there, waiting for the final fight, satisfied and waiting to die with dignity. For the first time in his life, someone paid him genuine respect, acknowledged him as an equal and gave him a fighting chance. When Jon reached him, he grinned.

"Mistake," he said as he pulled out a concealed dagger and attempted to stab Jon in the neck. Jon caught it and gripping Patrick's hand, he brought it down hard on his knee, causing Patrick to drop the dagger. Jon then proceeded to slug Patrick non-stop in the face. Left, right, left, right, one after another. Patrick got in a few hits of his own but soon enough, every time he attempted to fight back, Jon would simply block it and continue to pound Patrick until he fell to his knees. Picking up the dagger, Jon came thrusting forward, aiming for throat. Patrick however, caught his hand. There was one last thing he needed to say to his longtime rival.

"Thanks Jon…and goodbye. It's been one helluva ride," he said smiling.

"No problem…it sure has," replied Jon retuning the smile.

Patrick dropped his guard and the built-up momentum sent the dagger running through Patrick's throat. He gasped, his eyes widened and he began to choke. Jon grabbed him by what was left of his chest armor and pulled him closer, shoving the knife further into his throat. Patrick gasped again, convulsed twice and then went still. His arms dropped down to his sides and dangled there. Jon released the dagger from his throat and he finally fell over; dead.

Silence filled the air, drowning out even the sound of the hornets as everyone just stood there, staring at the two. Jon would be dead himself soon but he didn't care. He too could die happy. For once, he gave someone hope, reason to cling to life when all seemed dire and hopeless. He had made a difference in someone's life, even if it was his greatest rival. Looking up finally, he looked at Karl.

"Jon?" Karl asked. All Jon could do was nod. He was too weak to say anything. He then turned to the Captain, still clutching the dagger in his hand. Griffiths stopped him before he could speak.

"It's ok Jon. Everything will be alright…go to them. I'm sure they'll be more than happy to see you again." Jon dropped the dagger and fell backwards onto the concrete ground.

"Jon!" said Karl as he rushed to him. After a quick examination of his wounds he turned to the Captain.

"Don't bother," he said. "It's his time…let him go." Clutching Jon's hand, Karl looked right at him.

"Thank you…everyone," he said smiling.

"No…thank you Jon," replied Karl, now choked up.

Jon closed his eyes for the final time and took his last breath.

"Jon…JON!" screamed Karl as he felt Jon's grip give in his hand. "No! Goddamn it Jon, you get back here! God damn-it, don't you leave me too! You're all I have left, all we have left! Get back here you bastard!" The marines could only look on at Karl as he continued to yell at Jon and shake his dead body in a vain attempt to bring him back. After a few moments, Griffiths finally broke the silence.

"Alright marines…pack it up, we're goin home," he said as he turned to walk away. He was suddenly whipped around and grabbed by Karl.

"What's the matter with you? Where's that medic? Can't you see Jon needs medical attention?"

"Doyle…I'm sorry…I can't-"

"Captain, don't!"

"Doyle, I-"

"Griffiths!"

"God damn-it, get it through your head Karl! Jon is dead and there's nothing we can do!" shouted Griffiths, his anger getting the best of him. Karl just stood there for a moment with a hollow look, eventually shoving Griffiths away. Turning toward Jon's body, he fell to his knees as he approached it, fighting the tears back with all his strength. Griffiths realized the mistake he made and approached Karl.

"Karl…it's ok… He's in a better place now. You don't have to worry about our hero anymore," he said in a rare display of emotion. With that, he turned and walked toward the hornets which were now landing.

"Sir-"

"I don't wanna talk about it. Leave him be," he said sternly, cutting off one of the marines.

Griffiths clicked on his com and began issuing a series of orders. His men followed him, giving Karl the time alone he needed. Everything seemed to cease to exist except an air of sadness as Karl sat there, crying, letting out all the pain, suffering and anguish he felt throughout his lifetime over Jon's dead body.

**The End**

* * *

Author's Note: Y'know I'd really like to write an epilogue to all this but I kinda like this ending. It effectively wraps everything up and gives plenty of subtle clues as to what's going to happen next as well as leaving things open for interpretation from the reader. I know it ends on a really down note but it's not all bad. Jon's in a better place now and all has been saved. However, if there's enough demand for an epilogue, I just may consider it. So with that out of the way…

To all my viewers on youtube: I'm terribly sorry this took 2 full years to finally complete. Those who kept up with it know the reasons why this took so long but the way I see it, little of that matters now. What matters is that we have an ending finally. It may not be a machinima but it is an ending nonetheless unless you count the one made by greviousrocks.

In all regards, whether you're a reader here or a viewer on youtube, I hope you enjoyed reading this story as I enjoyed writing it. So, until next time…


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